Count among them President Joe Biden’s administration-wide push to bolster competition throughout the American economy. It seeks to answer rising complaints about how dominant corporations exploit their market power, with the promise of benefits for consumers, workers and 21st century capitalism itself. But the effort sprawls across so many executive actions and agencies as to blur attention to its reach and impact.
White House aides point to an academic estimate that eroded competitive forces in the economy cost the median household $5,000 per year. Even if their effort could eventually claw back that money, it would come only gradually on a time frame extending well beyond Biden’s presidency.
“That’s not going to turn around overnight,” observed Brian Deese, who directs White House economic policy and chairs its newly created Competition Council. “The impact will be years, and in some cases beyond that, down the road.”
Biden set the…
