Incentive misalignment in state antitrust

 Competition On the Merits asks the question whether state antitrust enforcers incentives are misaligned.

PROBLEM:  The states are bringing cases on transactions whose effects fall mostly outside their borders, and doing so with tools and settlement terms that have little to do with competition.

What do the states get by challenging National mergers?  Attorney fees, local jobs, donations to local firms, and DEI commitments.  And don't forget free PR.  Many state AG's are governors-in-waiting.  

SOLUTION:  What can be done to realign incentives?

• National mergers should be reviewed nationally, not by states.
• Make plaintiffs show that mergers actually harm competition by repealing the Biden-era Merger Guidelines which largely obviate this requirement.