Open Markets Institute Statement on the FTC’s Lawsuit Reviving the Robinson-Patman Act
WASHINGTON - In response to the Federal Trade Commission initiating a lawsuit against Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits, LLC for engaging in unlawful price discrimination, the Open Market Institute's senior legal analyst Daniel Hanley issued the following statement:
Today, the FTC has taken a critical step forward in its campaign to revive antimonopoly law in the United States and restore a fair competitive playing field for all businesses. For decades, based on faulty evidence and in clear defiance of Congress, the agency abandoned enforcement of the Robinson-Patman Act. The Robinson-Patman Act is based on the principle that equal treatment is fundamental to ensuring widely shared economic prosperity and promoting independent entrepreneurship. In its lawsuit, the FTC targets a dominant liquor distributor engaged in relentless, unjustifiable discrimination against small and independent stores. The FTC’s lawsuit is firmly grounded in controlling caselaw and seeks to ensure that all businesses and citizens have access to the essential goods they need to operate and have a fair chance to succeed. We applaud the FTC and its dedicated public officials for enforcing an important antimonopoly law that’s been long neglected and continuing its fight for a fair marketplace.
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The Open Markets Institute has published extensive scholarship and reporting detailing the history and purpose of the Robinson-Patman Act—and the consequences of its neglected enforcement. For years, Open Markets has called for renewed enforcement of the law by the FTC.
Daniel A. Hanley, Controlling Buyer and Seller Power: Reviving Enforcement of the Robinson-Patman Act, 52 Hofstra Law Review 313 (2024).
Brian Callaci, Daniel A. Hanley, & Sandeep Vaheesan, The Robinson-Patman Act as a Fair Competition Measure, Temple Law Review (forthcoming 2025).
Phil Longman, Everyday High Prices, The Washington Monthly (2023).
Claire Kelloway, Fighting the Big Grocery Monopoly, The Washington Monthly (2021).
Brian Callaci & Sandeep Vaheesan, How an Old U.S. Antitrust Law Could Foster a Fairer Retail Sector, Harvard Business Review (2022).