Antitrust Division Not Out to ‘Pick Winners and Losers,’ Says Division's Chief

DOJ’s Antitrust Division doesn’t “pick winners and losers,” but enforces the laws “equally to protect a level playing field,” Chief Makan Delrahim told the National Diversity Coalition Thursday. “Hard-nose competition ensures lower prices, increased innovation, higher quality goods and services, and improved opportunities for entrepreneurs,” said Delrahim. “When we see a large company try to buy its biggest competitor so that consumers can no longer compare the merits of one against the merits of another, we bring a lawsuit to block that.” If competitors collude to fix prices, “we bring a lawsuit to stop that anticompetitive conduct, and we bring criminal charges when the conspiracy warrants it,” he said. “If a company has succeeded to the point that it does not have much competition, we will bring a lawsuit if the company uses the advantages of its position to get in the way of companies that would otherwise be able to win customers on the merits and challenge the dominant player’s market position.”