FTC revives Teddy Roosevelt antitrust approach. Federal Trade Commissioner Mark Meador recently invoked Roosevelt's "New Nationalism" philosophy in a speech to the Bull Moose Institute, signaling a return to aggressive trust-busting economics. The move represents a significant shift toward progressive antitrust enforcement that mirrors policies from the Biden era under officials like Lina Khan and Tim Wu. However, free-market conservatives warn this represents dangerous expansion of government power over business. Modern corporations differ fundamentally from the monopolistic trusts of Roosevelt's era, which engaged in criminal tactics including bribery and violence. The question facing policymakers is whether historical antitrust frameworks apply to today's technology-driven markets or if new approaches better serve competition and consumer interests.
