FTC Chair Ferguson Discusses Regulatory Burden and Lessons Learned

FTC's Focus on Right-Sizing and Accountability

• 🎯 The FTC is working to right-size the agency after a two-year hiring spree that led to unsustainable levels.
• 💡 The agency is shifting focus away from extensive rulemaking and back towards consumer protection.
• 💰 Contract spending reductions of $6 million are seen as a starting point, with a broader effort to identify and address waste and duplicative budgets across agencies.

Impact of Regulation on Businesses

• ⚠️ Well-intentioned regulation can have unanticipated negative effects, disproportionately impacting small and medium-sized businesses.
• ⚖️ Large businesses can afford to lobby for favorable outcomes, while smaller businesses often cannot, creating a risk that regulation could be used to insulate monopolies.
• 📈 The FTC's role is to ensure that free markets work by preventing participants from harming consumers to gain an advantage, rather than acting as central planners or engaging in industrial policy.

Mechanism for Reporting Anti-Competitive Regulations

• 💻 The FTC has a mechanism on its website for individuals and businesses to self-report anti-competitive regulations by filling out a form with an explanation.
• 🤝 Congress is encouraged to share feedback from constituents, as they have close interactions with small businesses and can identify specific regulatory burdens.
• 🔍 The agency is reviewing proposed regulations to determine if they are anti-competitive, with the goal of either shrinking them or recommending their deletion.

Timeline and Next Steps

• 🗓️ The Request for Information (RFI) closes in a couple of months, with agency responses due on a rolling basis.
• 🧑‍⚖️ A team from the FTC and the Department of Justice, including economists and lawyers, will review the submissions to identify anti-competitive regulations.
• 📝 The ultimate goal is to present a list of recommended regulations for removal or modification to the administration.