By Bill Baer, Brookings
As the dust settles on the much-anticipated House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee hearing with the CEOs of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google, it’s time to consider what happens next. Those expecting swift new developments probably should curb their expectations. Wheels will turn—but slowly.
In the next few weeks, we likely will see a report from the Subcommittee on its deep dive into allegations of antitrust misconduct by each of the firms. At the hearing, legislators outlined different concerns about the companies: from the way Amazon treats third-party sellers on its platform and Apple handles its App Store developers to whether Facebook’s acquisitions stifle competition and Google’s search protocols advantage its own products. We can expect the report to detail the evidence for these allegations. That will include a review of company documents provided to the Subcommittee and a discussion of interviews with company officials and third parties about specific behaviors, policies, and acquisitions. We also will see an assessment of the adequacy of each CEO’s response to questions posed at the hearing, including areas where the executives dodged relevant questions or even acknowledged possible wrongdoing.
But the recommendations of the Subcommittee will merit close scrutiny too. Will the report urge specific actions for government enforcers at the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice and at the Federal Trade Commission? Will it recommend legislation to change federal antitrust law to facilitate challenging dominant firms that allegedly limit competition in order to lock-in their market power? Will there be bipartisan support for any of the proposed recommendations?
