Lina Khan Ran The FTC Like The 2015 Warriors.
Lina Khan's Accomplishments As Chair Of The Federal Trade Commission Are Endless.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), is one of the greatest unsung heroes of government function. For all the problems bureaucracy creates, the FTC is one thing it got right. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is the other.
Despite this, most people don’t know what these agencies are. As with most agencies within the government, it is boring and mundane.
In short, the FTC enforces antitrust law and promotes consumer protection. They enforce the Clayton Act, prevent monopolies, block unfair pricing practices, and stop other acts that may hurt consumers.
Through eliminating junk fees, battling scams in different industries, and their materials to educate, they save consumers billions each year for an operating cost of around 400 million. If that’s not efficiency, I don’t know what is.
With Donald Trump’s appointment of a pro-merger, pro non-compete FTC Commissioner in Andrew Ferguson, I thought what better way to highlight the usefulness of the FTC through the accomplishments of Lina Khan. One of the best chairs the FTC has ever had.
Lina Khan successfully brokered bipartisan regulation preventing hidden junk fees in the concert and lodging industry. Something that has cost consumers millions each year, and this regulation is projected to save consumers 11 billion in the next decade.
Nobody likes selecting $50 tickets and at the last screen on checkout finding out the total cost is over $200. Lina Khan’s FTC is the reason this is no longer a concern.
Pertaining to junk fees and veterans, she got passed the Combating Auto Retail Scams (CARS) rule that prevents auto retailers from throwing in hidden costs and lying about military affiliation.
What about those subscriptions on websites that are always really easy to sign up for, but then impossible to figure out how to cancel?
Thanks to Lina Khan this is now a banned practice, of which the FTC previously received over 70 complaints about daily.
The agency was able to return $245 million to American’s pockets after finalizing an order requiring Epic Games to pay consumers for tricking them into making unwanted charges. They also took down corporate landlord Invitation Homes for predatory landlord actions and unfair eviction practices, returning $48 million to the victims.
Lina Khan also blocked more mergers than Dikembe Mutombo did lay-ups. Notably suing to block the $24.6 billion merger between Kroger and Albertsons. The FTC has successfully policed consolidation across crucial sectors of the economy, including semiconductors, defense, energy, consumer products, healthcare, and pharmaceuticals.
Lina Khan also fought to ensure the FTC was on the front line of allowing access to healthcare for more people. Including suing to challenge 100 drug patents and medicines wrongly listed in the Food And Drug Administration’s (FDA) Orange Book. This led to pharma companies dropping out-of-pocket costs for inhalers from $500 to under $35.
The entirety of her tenure under Biden was spent prosecuting companies inflating medicine costs. From the largest pharmacy benefit managers inflating insulin costs, or those behind the scenes spiking prices on life saving medicines.
The non-compete forms employers could force you to sign, only to leave you unable to find employment? Gone because of Lina Khan.
Major corporations stealing tipped wages from its workers? Forced to pay $60 million back to the victims of their actions by the FTC.
Another core component of the FTC that Lina Khan has been great at is protecting consumers data and personal information. She banned digital health apps from disclosing users health information to other advertisers.
There has also been a specific focus on protecting children’s data online and protecting their privacy as well.
They were able to recover a record $275 million related to this, as well as bringing lawsuit to TikTok for their violations.
The last thing worth highlighting is how Lina Khan has ensured small businesses would have a level playing field when competing with bigger corporations. There was a successful suit brought against Amazon for unfairly raising its prices on those trying to sell on the platform.
Also blocking MasterCard from blocking small businesses from routing payments through them and protecting franchisee’s from junk fee’s that were being forced upon them.
The agency also largely brought back enforcement of the Robinson-Patman Act under Lina Khan, which prohibits price discrimination that specifically squeezes independent retailers.
For example, suing Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits, the largest U.S. distributor of wine and spirits, and Pepsi for favoring a corporate retailer over other competitors when providing different promotions and services.
At a yearly budget of $425 million, the FTC has returned over $5 billion dollars directly to consumers and protected them from billions more in potential losses under Lina Khan for a total cost of only roughly $1.7 billion. Making it one of the most efficient agencies in the government, and something well worth protecting.
And it solidifies Lina Khan’s record as the great of all time, just like the 2015 Golden State Warriors.