Steps towards a healthier economy – A letter to the California Law Revision Commission

Grocery stores compete for our money. Companies compete for workers. Social media platforms compete for our attention. The well-being of our economy depends on this competition to keep prices down while driving up the quality of products, services, and jobs. 

So what happens when there is no competition, no consumer choice? Companies have more leeway to drive up prices, exploit their workers, and harm consumers with little to no accountability.

We’re seeing this now as the affordability crisis continues to escalate.

That’s why we’re excited that the California Law Revision Commission (CLRC) has concluded its extensive study of California antitrust law. These laws are designed to promote fair competition by prohibiting monopolies, price fixing, and collusion. With the conclusion of this study, we now have recommendations to jumpstart competition in California’s economy. 

Why is this so important? The CLRC has been shaping California law for more than 70 years, and its recommendations carry significant weight with both the courts and the legislature, which adopts them about 90% of the time. This makes the study’s conclusions especially consequential. 

Towards the end of the CLRC’s study process, we submitted a letter alongside other California organizations applauding the CLRC for its tentative recommendations that include:

• Recognizing the evidence of anticompetitive behavior of Big Tech
• Affirming that federal antitrust law is not preemptive of state antitrust law
• Codifying that “cross-market balancing,” or the trading of anticompetitive harms in one market for theoretical benefits in a separate market, is illegal
• Providing extensive judicial guidance for courts to enhance the reach of California antitrust law to stem conduct like predatory pricing, which frequently appears across markets but has been all but impossible to enforce against

Read the full letter for details.

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