Putting Workers and Consumers First – Antitrust Should Advance Fair Competition, Growth, and Consumer Protection
Protecting consumers and building a pro-growth economy are two sides of the same coin. When our economy thrives, hiring climbs, wages increase, and life gets more affordable for hardworking Americans. When growth stalls, workers and businesses feel it first.
That balance is now on the line in today's antitrust debates.
States are Leading the Charge
In state governments across the country, policymakers are responding to legitimate concerns about market concentration and diminished consumer choice. The instinct to protect and spur competition is the right one, but the execution can cause more harm than good.
In California, the Law Review Commission is recommending a sweeping overhaul of the Cartwright Act, the state's primary antitrust statute. While clarifying standards and modernizing enforcement can be positive steps, lowering legal thresholds for bringing cases and expanding liability in ways that could hit businesses of all sizes with costly new litigation would be especially detrimental to small businesses that don’t have deep pockets.
In New York, legislators are making a final push to pass the 21st Century Antitrust Act, a proposal that would dramatically broaden the definition of illegal market dominance and allow enforcement actions based on vague standards like “abuse of dominance.” Deterring exploitative conduct is essential, but without clear standards, small and medium-sized businesses would bear the brunt of unintended consequences.
The pattern is clear: states are using blunt instruments aimed at specific political targets and hitting everyone else too. For businesses trying to plan, invest, and hire, that uncertainty is a reason to look elsewhere.
Protecting Consumers — and Innovation
As our global rivals invest, we debate. Antitrust should maintain competitive markets, protect innovation, put money back in the pockets of consumers and curb monopoly abuse – without penalizing success. Headline-driven overreach pushes investment elsewhere, costing workers jobs and wage growth.
A Better Way
Antitrust enforcement should be targeted and focused on real harm to real people.
Pairing accountability with predictable guardrails better protects workers, spurs growth, and promotes innovation.
At a time when American workers need rising wages, affordable goods, and dependable jobs, our competition policy should reinforce American competitiveness. We shouldn’t penalize success—we should ensure success comes from meeting consumer needs and treating workers fairly.
This is the worst moment to weaken U.S. competitiveness through overreach. America's competitors are not pausing while we debate domestic antitrust battles.
At Next American Era, we believe a smart, evidence-based competition policy is a cornerstone of a fair economy. When done right, antitrust policy can protect consumers, empower workers, and foster innovation.