DOJ Antitrust Head Stresses "Front-End Guidance" And Structural Remedies

Bill Baer, the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the DOJ Antitrust Division, spoke about the DOJ's antitrust enforcement priorities last Friday, February 6, at a speech in Miami. AAG Baer emphasized three priorities: exercising patience with market flux due to new disruptive new industry sectors, giving meaningful guidance to the business community, and crafting structural remedies as part of their merger enforcement efforts.

First, the AAG noted the need to resist the temptation to overreact to fluctuations in markets. "[C]ompetition is not neat, organized, or pretty. There will be big winners and big losers in many markets – and big temptation to stifle these new competitive dynamics." Antitrust enforcers must exercise some degree of perspective, for example, with new sectors such as generic competition in the pharmaceutical industry and the entry of e-books into the publishing business. In particular, enforcers must work with regulators to resist call from