Biden signs order to curb anti-competition practices in US
By Shubhangi on Jul 10, 2021 | 04:30 AM IST
President
Joe Biden signed an executive order on Friday to encourage competition in the economy
by asking agencies to curb anti-competitive practices in various sectors
including agriculture, drugs and labor.
"Let me be very clear, capitalism without competition
isn't capitalism, it's exploitation," Biden said at the White House.
The executive order, if fully implemented, will help lower
Americans' internet costs, allow for airline baggage fee refunds for delayed
luggage and cut some prescription drug prices, among many other steps, reported
Reuters.
"No more tolerance of abusive actions by monopolies. No
more bad mergers that lead to massive layoffs, higher prices and fewer options
for workers and consumers alike," Biden said at the signing ceremony.
The rate of new business formation has decreased by almost
50 per cent in US since the 1970s due to big businesses making it difficult for
people to break into the market, the White House said.
Biden is targeting corporate monopolies across a wide range
of industries including labor, healthcare, technology and agriculture and he
aims to implement 72 initiatives for federal agencies to act on.
Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
will be instructed to analyse mergers carefully and also challenge deals that
have been closed.
Big Tech companies including Facebook, Apple, Google and
Amazon will be issued rules by FTC to address competition concerns.
(With
inputs from Reuters)
Picture
Credits: Reuters