The Biden administration is already considering using antitrust law to crush big tech, but the executive order could go a step further to curb market power in other industries. Containment could put large American companies at a disadvantage on world markets. While the details remain unclear, the executive order would give the government more power to regulate large companies.
“We agree with the government’s restructuring of the economy because we understand that large companies, when they dominate the market, harm the economy and workers,” critics say.
Aides to President Joe Biden are tinkering with an executive order aimed at boosting competition by cracking down on mega-corporations that dominate key industries. The executive order comes this week, and although it has yet to be finalized and submitted to the president, there are signs that the substance of the order is already going public, according to Politico. An executive order aimed at restricting private companies of this size would be a major policy shift that critics have long expected.
The larger executive order, which aims to spread corporate consolidation across the economy, could include several measures aimed at large technology companies such as Google, Facebook, Apple and Amazon, said people with knowledge of the content. Iran Mui from CNBC reported that the White House announced a new executive order on Friday aimed at ensuring that the competition of big tech remained.
Major technology companies such as Facebook, Google, Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and Amazon are facing a slew of antitrust investigations by the federal government, state lawyers general and Congress. The social media platforms have come under particularly scrutiny this year for their efforts to curb the spread of misinformation and false claims after US intelligence agencies alleged that Russia used the platforms to conduct influence operations aimed at interferering in the 2016 election. The administration of Republican president Donald Trump has also intensified its scrutiny of big technology companies, conducting a series of investigations into whether large digital technology companies engage in anti-competitive practices.
Warren has led the charge to crush the big technology companies because they have oversized influence and stifle competition. In a January interview with the New York Times, Biden criticized the companies, saying he had “never been a fan” of Facebook and saying that online platforms should not be given immunity for content posted by users.
President Biden’s crackdown on big business is bad news for Wall Street titans like Ken Griffin, assuming it succeeds. On Tuesday it was reported that Biden is working on an executive order designed to clamp down on big technology companies.
President Joe Biden hopes to curb alleged unfair practices in the rail and shipping industries as part of a sweeping anti-competitiveness executive order. The executive order, issued in coming days, would encourage federal agencies that regulate railroads, shipping and more to take various measures the White House believes will promote competition and lower prices for Americans, sources familiar with the plan told the Washington Examiner. According to the Wall Street Journal, President Biden’s crackdown on large corporations is trying to circumvent traditional antitrust enforcement measures and force regulators to rethink their rules in the industries in which operate airlines and Internet providers.
The government says a small number of key players in shipping and the U.S. freight rail business allow companies to charge unreasonable fees. The source familiar with the plans said that freight railways in some regions of the country are controlled by duopolies and triopolies, not monopolies in localized regions and that the industry has consolidated since the 1990s.
Critics predict that the effort will fail in court. The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, which oversaw the case against Google last year and decided whether to open more cases against tech companies, is also investigating Apple Inc. for practices in the Apple App Store. Kovacic said that the choice of who will head the Antitrust Division in the Justice Department will be crucial. No one has yet appointed a deputy attorney general to lead the department.
Last week, he appointed Columbia law professor Timothy Wu as an adviser to the National Economic Council on technology and competition policy. Together, Khan and Wu will urge the Biden administration to step up the assault on the technology industry by former president Donald Trump. Many antitrust experts are pushing for a broader rethink of competition policy in the face of growing recognition that the US has failed to address the power of dominant companies in many industries including airlines, mobile phones, Internet services, and agriculture. Khan and Wu have been outspoken advocates for stronger antitrust enforcement against US technology companies. And Wu is well-positioned to influence laws that could upend the business practices of technology companies and other large corporations.
The U.S. Transportation Department will instruct- Joe Biden on Thursday to crack down on unfair behavior and unfair fees in the rail and shipping industries to lower prices for consumers, the White House said. The executive order to promote competition in the American economy is expected to include dozens of provisions to promote competition, said administration officials. The order follows others signed by Biden last week to help provide additional assistance to needy Americans and begin the process of raising the minimum wage for federal contract workers to $15 an hour.
In his first 100 days, Trump issued a series of executive orders requiring changes to federal procurement rules and contractual clauses. Other assignments are expected this week, along with a series of theme days on race justice, climate, health care, and immigration. Biden signed 30 executive orders in his first three days in office, some of which reversed Trump’s policies.
Additional executive orders are anticipated to lead to the use of the federal acquisition system to address energy and environmental issues, labor and labor law compliance, and other social and economic policies priorities. He also signed an executive order to raise the hourly minimum wage for certain state contractors and subcontractors to $15 an hour from January 30, 2022.
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