Lina Khan at a Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing on April 21, 2021, at the Washington State Capitol. Graeme Jennings/Reuters
In just a few months, 35-year-old Lina Khan has become a central figure in American politics. Stars in high demand for selfies – something unheard of at the country’s competition watchdog, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). A frail but confident voice, she revolutionized the fight against monopoly by imposing a new interpretation of U.S. antitrust law for the digital age.
Khan, a leading critic of Big Tech companies’ anticompetitive practices, has been the FTC chairman since 2021. These days, she gets invited everywhere. On September 20, she spoke at the Council on Foreign Relations, a first for the think tank, which typically focuses on world affairs. On September 26, she appeared on Hasan Minhaj’s provocative YouTube show. The host staged a hilarious standoff between the young legal expert and respected Justice Secretary Merrick Garland over the privilege of suing and breaking up Google. “Nothing like that happened at all,” Khan corrected dryly.
Khan made a shocking appearance on 60 Minutes (CBS), one of America’s most respected television shows, on September 22 when he highlighted the disparity in the cost of inhalers. In Europe, these asthma medications cost less than $10, while in the United States they cost hundreds of dollars. Under her leadership, the FTC revealed that even though the device was invented in the 1950s, manufacturers continued to misuse their patents to block generic competition. In June, three manufacturers agreed to lower the price to $35. “It is disturbing to think that drug companies have been able to get away with inflating the prices of these essential medicines for so long, imposing hardship on American families,” she said.
Every time Khan appears in public, this young woman aims to get an education. She explains the mission of the FTC, an agency founded in 1914 to strengthen the fight against monopolies in steel, oil, and railroads. Addressing an audience that knew nothing about economic structure, she described harmful economic integration in sectors such as food, aviation, communications, and pharmaceuticals. Khan cited the 2022 infant formula incident caused by a single contamination at a single factory as an example of the risks consumers face. He also criticized the lack of competition among internet providers, leading to high prices, and said the system was rigged to disadvantage providers. Khan said market concentration is the main reason why prices have remained high even after the coronavirus pandemic. This is a phenomenon progressives call “greedflation,” inflation driven by the appetites of conglomerates.
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