Common sense returns to antitrust.

In 2013, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted unanimously to close an investigation of Google, despite agency staff concluding that the company had significantly harmed competition.[4] Massive mergers sailed through, including the Penguin and Random House deal, and the merger of American Airlines and US Airways. One was that, after decades of effective enforcement, Americans had stopped paying attention to monopoly and turned to other issues.[29] The second was that, by the 1980s, the Democratic Party had abandoned its commitment to small business, which had been a key part of the party's coalition since the New Deal.[30] This left a crucial constituency without a political home from which to organize a defence of America's anti-monopoly policies. Keywords: Antitrust; Competition policy; Democracy; Consumer welfare; Economic inequality; Monopoly; Small business; K21; L40; N00 EN Antitrust Competition policy Democracy Consumer welfare Economic inequality Monopoly Small business K21 L40 N00 236 241 6 08/11/23 20230701 NES 230701 I. INTRODUCTION It is an extraordinary time in antitrust. Antitrust, Competition policy, Democracy, Consumer welfare, Economic inequality, Monopoly, Small business, K21, L40, L40, N00. [Extracted from the article]