WASHINGTON — The Obama administration warned corporate America today that the government will move more aggressively to investigate big firms that improperly dominate markets — contending that lax enforcement by the Bush administration fueled the current economic troubles.
Assistant Attorney General Christine Varney said the Justice Department is abandoning legal guidelines established by the Bush administration in September 2008. Critics complained that the earlier set of instructions made it difficult to pursue antitrust cases against big firms.
Varney laid out the new policy in a speech to the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning think tank.
She said some of the current economy’s problems were due to the lack of enforcement in the previous 10 years — a clear jab at the Bush administration, which, she said, raised too many hurdles to antitrust investigations.
“There was a high cost to standing aside. We must change course and take a new tack,” said Varney.
The new rules mark a return to the antitrust policies of the Clinton administration, which brought a major action against Microsoft. These days, similar questions are being asked about the market dominance of Google.
Asked about Google, Varney insisted her remarks weren’t aimed at any particular company, but wanted all companies to get the message.
“Look, when you become successful and you have market power, however you define it, you need to pay attention to the rules,” she said.
Ed Black, president of the Computer and Communications Industry Association, said Varney’s remarks showed firms should “do some self-correcting before they get corrected” by the government.
“It’s clear we have a new sheriff in town and I think there is so much that has been left ignored and not dealt with,” said Black.
In doing so, the Justice Department is following up on a campaign pledge by President Barack Obama, who said the Bush administration had “what may be the weakest record of antitrust enforcement of any administration in the last half-century.”
Varney said the Obama administration would try to follow the historic lessons of The Great Depression in pursuing antitrust cases even in a troubled economy.
Ineffective government regulation, she argued, is contributing to the current economic problems.
“As antitrust enforcers, we cannot sit on the sidelines any longer,” she said, adding that new legislation may be needed to better police the marketplace.
Her division has also launched a program designed to sniff out fraud or anticompetitive collusion surrounding the government’s $787 billion economic stimulus package.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
