Through rigorous economic analysis, economists in the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Economics support the FTC’s missions of protecting consumers and maintaining competition. This article first describes how tools from labor markets have informed research at the FTC on merger effects, as well as recent research on labor economics by FTC economists. The article then provides four examples of how FTC economists have applied economic analysis to their casework. The first example is of the economic analysis of harm to consumers who signed up for a training program based on misleading information. The second describes the economic analysis that was done in support of the litigation to block the Kroger-Albertson’s supermarket merger. The third describes a methodology that can be used to estimate the harm to workers who are deceived about the earning potential in the gig economy. The last is a discussion of the analysis of the anticompetitive effects of loyalty discounts offered by a platform in the Surescripts matter. © This is a U.S. Government work and not under copyright protection in the US; foreign copyright protection may apply 2025.
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