The FTC's Fruitless Search for 'Relevant Markets'

One of the worst aspects of the "neo-Brandeisian" approach to antitrust pursued by former Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina Khan was the definition "relevant markets." The FTC tried to define the relevant markets for targeted companies as narrowly as possible. These narrow definitions usually bore little relation to market realities and were an attempt to make it easier for the FTC to win in court. For example, the FTC's success in blocking the merger of grocery chains Albertson's and Kroger depended on the agency's success defining the relevant marketplace as "traditional grocery stores." This meant the two chains did not compete with big box stores like Wal-Mart or Costco -- even though Wal-Mart is the leading grocery retailer in America!