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The Federal Trade Commission announced the agenda for the 14th session of its Hearings Initiative. This session, at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska on June 12, 2019, will conclude the FTC’s Hearings on Competition and Consumer Protection in the 21st Century.

The morning session will include a series of roundtable discussions with State Attorneys General on consumer protection and antitrust enforcement and policy issues. Attorneys General Jeff Landry (Louisiana), Doug Peterson (Nebraska), Jason Ravnsborg (South Dakota), and Herbert Slatery III (Tennessee), and senior staff from the Attorney General Offices of Arizona, the District of Columbia, Iowa, Mississippi, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Washington, will participate. Comments relating to the discussion with the State Attorneys General are due no later than 11:59pm on June 30, 2019 and should be submitted here.

The first afternoon session will examine legal and economic considerations relevant to optimizing the Commission’s consumer protection remedies. Comments relating to optimizing consumer protection remedies are due no later than 11:59pm on June 30, 2019 and should be submitted here.

The second afternoon session will revisit Frank Easterbrook’s seminal article The Limits of Antitrust, 63 Tex. L. Rev. 1 (1984). Panelists will discuss whether and under what conditions error-cost considerations are an appropriate guide for antitrust policy and enforcement, and how and to what degree such considerations should influence the Commission’s case selection and advocacy agenda. Comments relating to error-cost considerations in antitrust enforcement and policy are due no later than 11:59pm on June 30, 2019 and should be submitted here.

As previously announced, the Commission is accepting final comments on all prior Hearing topics through 11:59pm on June 30, 2019; final comments can be submitted here.

If any entity has provided funding for research, analysis, or commentary that is included in a submitted public comment, please identify the source of the funding on the first page of the comment.

Location

Mike and Josie Harper Center, Hixson-Lied Auditorium
Creighton University
602 N. 20th Street
Omaha, NE 68102

The FTC Hearings on Competition and Consumer Protection in the 21st Century will accommodate as many attendees as possible; however, admittance will be limited to seating availability. Reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities are available upon request. Request for accommodations should be submitted to Elizabeth Kraszewski via email at ekraszewski@ftc.gov or by phone at (202) 326-3087. Such requests should include a detailed description of the accommodation needed. Please allow at least five days advance notice for accommodation requests; last minute requests will be accepted but may not be possible to accommodate.

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