U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA), chair of the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee (JEC), called President Joe Biden’s executive order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy a good step for the economy, small businesses, and workers.
The executive order seeks to increase competition, which is intended to lower prices, increase wages, and promote innovation and foster economic growth.
“The rate of new business formation has fallen by almost 50% since the 1970s as large businesses make it harder for Americans with good ideas to break into markets,” the Biden administration said. “There are fewer opportunities for existing small and independent businesses to access markets and earn a fair return. Economists find that as competition declines, productivity growth slows, business investment and innovation decline, and income, wealth, and racial inequality widen.”
The executive order includes 72 initiatives by more than a dozen federal agencies to promptly tackle some of the most pressing competition problems across our economy. It also establishes a White House Competition Council, led by the Director of the National Economic Council, to monitor progress on finalizing the initiatives.
“Over the past 30 years, the United States has experienced a rise and concentration of corporate market power that has harmed consumers, workers, and small businesses,” Beyer said. “Across industries—including healthcare, agriculture, telecommunications, transportation, technology, and financial services—the market power of the United States’ largest companies has grown significantly, as they have essentially swallowed small businesses and erected barriers to entry for new competitors.”
Beyer added that the consolidation of corporate power has concentrated profits among the wealthiest at the top while depressing workers’ wages and constraining innovation.
“President Biden’s Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy represents a major step in the right direction, advancing a whole-of-government approach to promote an economy where small businesses can compete, consumers are protected, and workers have the capacity to bargain for better pay and working conditions,” Beyer added. “This is what a serious executive order aimed at supporting American workers and restoring fairness to the economy looks like, and I applaud the Administration’s decisive action.”