Economics and Economists in Merger Antitrust Enforcement

Economics and economists today play an active role in merger antitrust enforcement in the United States. Both of the federal antitrust agencies – the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) – that are responsible for merger enforcement have sizable staffs of trained economists who routinely become involved in merger analysis, merger litigation, and the development of merger enforcement policy. Private parties also now routinely hire expert economists for assistance in analysis and litigation in instances where the merging parties anticipate a challenge by the enforcement agencies.