In the midst of economic volatility, there is a distinct risk that firms will find stability in cartels.  Not only will cartels erect new barriers to entry and hamper innovation, but they will also set dangerous precedents for the economic formation post-recovery.  David Balto of the liberal Center for American Progress proposes that the Obama administration focus on antitrust enforcement as an instrument of promoting economic growth.  Antitrust enforcement, he argues, will invite new firms into the marketplace and incentivize further innovation.

The proposal seeks to prevent the emergence of deleterious cartels and protect opportunities for innovators and other entrepreneurs to enter the marketplace.  It argues that industries are particularly vulnerable to market manipulation during times of economic hardship.  The proposal seeks to fortify competition and facilitate a more vibrant and opportune marketplace by enhancing antitrust enforcement.

The proposal seeks to strengthen antitrust enforcement in each branch of the United States government.

In the Department of Justice (DOJ), it submits that the Obama administration should reinstate the Civil Task Force of the Antitrust Division with the power to investigate civil antitrust claims.  Developing a new task force would effectively reverse the course that the Bush administration took within the DOJ.

With respect to the Supreme Court, the plan argues that the DOJ should provide amicus briefs and other documents that serve to further clarify the law and open up new opportunities for parties to challenge unfair market practices.  The DOJ should also set new rules that reverse the Bush Justice Department's 'dominant firm report' that increases the barriers to challenging the standing of powerful firms within an industry.

Congress should take action to reverse rulings that sanction forms of price fixing and enact new rules that increase the opportunity for litigation challenging mergers and acquisitions.  New law should also reduce liability for firms that disclose illegal activity.

Balto pinpoints agriculture, healthcare and telecommunications as industries in particular need of reform.
 

The reforms in each branch of government will require a different mode of implementation.  The DOJ task force might require a modicum of funding and rules changes within the Department.  Congressional changes will require new legislation without substantial appropriation.  Distinctly judicial reforms will require initiative by the DOJ.