Do state antitrust enforcers care about competition?

 Competition On the Merits examines the incentives of state antitrust enforcers.

PROBLEM:  The states bring cases against mergers whose effects fall mostly outside their borders, and ask 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 (US courts do this) by repealing the Biden-era Merger Guidelines that ignore this requirement.