One of the good things Pres. Biden is doing

Lately I've been passing along items critical of the Biden administration, all of them justified and righteous. But it hasn't been total disappointment. Actually, it's been pretty much the mix of good and bad that I and many others expected.

Along with Khan, the Biden administration now has antitrust advocates with a track record of actually pursuing antitrust in powerful positions, rather than former toadies ready to engage in the corporate capture that has been the norm under recent presidents, both Republican and Democrat.

Both will need some help from Congress. Staff attorneys at the FTC and the Justice Department have been leaving the government, not only because of differences of opinion with the new regime, but because Big Tech firms are throwing money at them. Enticing new talent will require money, and a bill that recently passed the Senate which would increase merger fees to fund enforcement agencies will help. Expect a much younger and less experienced crop of more aggressive lawyers at both agencies.

Biden in some sense tipped this move with his sweeping July executive order, which directed the Department of Justice to pursue a litany of competition-enhancing antitrust measures, everything from consideration of unwinding past mergers to a patent policy reform to expanding competition in air transportation. - The American Prospect