Obama, la competencia y la regulación

Los estadounidenses escogieron como Presidente a Barack Obama. Los felicitamos. Es un -aparente- líder inspirador, que, además, deberá ser reparador. Muchas expectativas, muchas esperanzas. Ojalá no defraude.

Recordemos que hace cuatro años, ese pueblo re-eligió a George W Bush.

Por cierto, el presidente electo era profesor de derecho en la Universidad de Chicago. Acá abajo va una de sus famosas fotos, haciendo una de sus clases.

Lo notable es que en la pizarra tiene escrito "utilities", que es como se conoce en inglés a los "servicios públicos regulados".

Algo debe saber. Por lo demás, fue editor del Harvard Law Review.

Como sea, Obama hace tiempo tiene un programa en materia de libre competencia (statement ante el American Antitrust Institute) y regulación de la energía.

No en vano, es Demócrata, lo que implica énfasis distintos.

Veamos:

• "When it works well, capitalism is great for consumers. Firms compete to cut prices and improve the customer experience, and consumers have plenty of alternatives, so they are not vulnerable to corporate greed or incompetence. Most of the time, American business enthusiastically participates in this win-win system.
• Antitrust is the American way to make capitalism work for consumers. Unlike some forms of government regulation, it ensures that firms can reap the rewards of doing a better job. Most fundamentally, it insists that customers—not government bureaucrats, and not monopoly CEOs—are the judges of what best serves their needs. America has been a longtime leader in antitrust, and our antitrust rules and institutions have often served as models for other countries wanting to make capitalism work for consumers. At home, for more than a century, there has been broad bipartisan support for vigorous antitrust enforcement, to protect competition and to foster innovation and economic growth."

¿Críticas a G W Bush? ¡You betcha!

• "Regrettably, the current administration has what may be the weakest record of antitrust enforcement of any administration in the last half century. Between 1996 and 2000, the FTC and DOJ together challenged on average more than 70 mergers per year on the grounds that they would harm consumer welfare. In contrast, between 2001 and 2006, the FTC and DOJ on average only challenged 33. And in seven years, the Bush Justice Department has not brought a single monopolization case."

¿Propuestas, nuevos énfasis? Claro.

• "As president, I will direct my administration to reinvigorate antitrust enforcement. It will step up review of merger activity and take effective action to stop or restructure those mergers that are likely to harm consumer welfare, while quickly clearing those that do not.
  
  My administration will take aggressive action to curb the growth of international cartels, working alone and with other jurisdictions to ensure that firms, wherever located, that collude to harm American consumers are brought to justice.
  
  My administration will look carefully at key industries to ensure that the benefits of competition are fully realized by consumers. Americans, for example, spend billions of dollars each year on drugs. Competition from generic manufacturers has the potential to reduce these costs significantly, or at least prevent these costs from ballooning further. "

En materia de energía, sus ideas, acá.

Mucha suerte, Mr Obama.

Y para saber quien sería el "Obama chileno", leer acá.