WASHINGTON (July 22, 2026) — America’s worst cost-of-living crisis in 50 years has many causes, one of which is how well the U.S. antitrust laws are enforced against harmful consolidation and business practices that drive up prices. But in recent decades, antitrust enforcement has lurched from one ideological extreme to another, sacrificing vigorous, consistent, and pragmatic enforcement that promotes competition and protects consumers, according to a new report from the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI).
In “Charting a Center-Left Course For Antitrust Enforcement,” Diana Moss, Vice President and Director of Competition Policy at PPI, traces how U.S. antitrust over the last 50 years has included two major swings. One is four decades of Chicago School conservatism, which considered vigorous enforcement a drag on efficiency and innovation. Another, more recent, episode is Biden-era Anti-Monopoly progressivism, which stretched antitrust law to try to fix problems it was never built to solve.
PPI’s report is based on qualitative analysis and a deep dive into three decades of DOJ and FTC merger data. The results reveal that ideological swings in enforcement have a real impact on competition and consumers. For example, lax Chicago-School enforcement did significant damage, allowing harmful consolidation. Biden-era enforcers attempted to enjoin, or block, more mergers — especially in the digital markets — but suffered the lowest rate of wins-per-injunction across five administrations. The Obama administration had the highest rate, successfully stopping harmful consolidation in food, healthcare, and other consumer-facing markets.
“Every time antitrust swings to an ideological extreme, consumers pay for the reset,” said Moss. “Chicago School conservatism let market power run unchecked for forty years, for which U.S. consumers are still paying the price. Anti-Monopoly progressivism spent its capital on risky digital-sector fights, even as consolidation accelerated in food, healthcare, and housing — sectors where Americans acutely feel high prices. Now we’re watching the Trump administration politicize antitrust to reward allies and punish enemies. None of this serves competition and consumers.”
The report lays out a two-part platform for a center-left approach to vigorous, consistent, and pragmatic enforcement. This includes codifying principles that produced some of the most effective enforcement in the post-Chicago era under the Obama administration. The report also encourages going further with new reforms to strengthen and clarify the antitrust laws, lower burdens on plaintiffs, learn from failed remedies, and reallocate agency resources in key sectors like food, healthcare, and energy.
“The antitrust laws exist to keep markets fair and support consumers,” said Moss. “Big swings in enforcement ideology defeat this goal, and U.S. consumers pay for the inconsistency.”
Read and download the report here.
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Media Contact: Ian O’Keefe – iokeefe@ppionline.org
