By Aaron Neuwirth, ETF Trends
There have been recent nominations of key staffers, and an executive order (EO) focused on “promoting competition in the American economy” by President Joe Biden. The recent T. Rowe Price Article, “Biden Signals Government-Wide Push to Promote Competition,” by Investment Analyst Katie Deal, determined just what kind of effect this EO would have on businesses and conditions.
“In our view, this EO signals a shift in the government’s approach to industry consolidation, a development that could lead to tougher reviews of proposed business combinations, longer time frames for deals to close, and more terms and conditions that must be met for a transaction to gain approval,” as stated in the article.
The EO does address two high-profile areas of concern: the power of dominant platforms and the problem of rising health care costs. However, the EO also encouraged regulatory actions to address a variety of concerns. For T. Rowe Price, it’s believed that investors should monitor the rulemaking process closely while noting that legislative and regulatory reform would take bipartisanship and years of rulemaking to play out.
Antitrust Scrutiny
“Many signs point toward the mega-cap technology platforms facing increased regulatory scrutiny,” states the article. Additionally, keep in mind the Biden administration’s appointments to key posts in the White House and regulatory agencies. They have all been on the record with legal and regulatory criticisms of the tech giants’ business practices.
“Much will be made of these appointees’ strategies for addressing the perceived harm caused by the influence of the biggest technology companies.” However, Biden’s nominations would install skilled regulatory technicians determined to increase antitrust scrutiny across industries.
