The Bully On the Playground of Prosperity

US policy editor Charles Sauer has a new article on Real Clear Markets.

In recent years, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has come under increasing criticism for its excessive regulation and overreach, which stifle economic growth, stifle innovation, and limit consumer choice. In this article, Sauer explores how the FTC's heavy-handed approach has become a bully in the welfare playground

“It's hard to explain to people how difficult it is to start a business when they see images on social media of successful entrepreneurs walking around in fancy clothes, driving expensive cars and jet-setting around the country. But what social media doesn't show are the failures, the risk, the frustration, and the work and determination that went into that lifestyle. Thus, entrepreneurs are often discredited.

Jealousy is a natural reaction, but if viewed correctly, jealousy can be used as motivation to take the same risks, take the same leaps, and take the necessary steps to reach the highest levels of success.

Or, misapplied jealousy can lead to what the Bidenadministration is doing — with the Federal Trade Commission and its Chairwoman Lina Kahn leading the way. They are attacking businesses like no other administration has attacked businesses and entrepreneurs. Companies are being forced to take defensive positions instead of expanding and growing as Biden's FTC guns up lawsuits, moves without Congress and appears to have taken on the role of financial bully.

ALL THIS WHILE THE COUNTRY IS STRUGGLING WITH HIGH GAS PRICES, INCREASING GROCERY BILLS AND NOW RAISING INTEREST RATES.

Under Lina Khan, one of the FTC's tactics is to file lawsuits that are unlikely to succeed but send a message to the market and Congress. This is lobbying through the courts. Under Khan's leadership, the FTC has adopted a guilty-until-proven-innocent approach, a McCarthy-style form of business hunting that uses "reason to believe" as an appropriate excuse to go after a company. Fortunately, he doesn't have much success on the pitches. Embarrassingly, the Wall Street Journal also recently called out the President, writing "Does Lina Khan ever win a case?" after a federal judge claimed it didn't appear the FTC had done its "homework" on the FTC's attempt to block Meta's acquisition of Within Unlimited. However, this does not mean that its lawsuits do not affect the economy.

It's important to note that it's not just Meta, Google and Amazon that are at the center of Khan's bullying. One of the biggest and most impressive examples of FTC overreach is the aggressive litigation against Idaho tech company Kochava.

This is a company that few know about, but which is one of the providers of the data backbone of our modern society. Last year the FTC filed suit against Kochava, alleging that it was selling sensitive geolocation data. However, the agency failed to define what constitutes a "sensitive location," and as a result, the entire data industry currently operates in a gray area. The use of geolocation data is common practice for countless social amenities such as mapping and directions, urban planning, investmentresearch, and consumer insights.

Geolocation data is a cornerstone of modern society, and Lina Khan just backed the entire industry into a corner. It's beyond horrible.