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Over a century ago, Congress gave the Federal Trade Commission authority to police unfair methods of competition. This was long interpreted to cover practices that limit competition and hurt consumers. Veering from this traditional consumer focus to instead emphasize workers, the FTC recently announced a proposal to ban non-compete clauses in employment contracts, which are common. Officials claim that the change could “increase wages by nearly $300 billion per year and expand career opportunities for about 30 million Americans.”
The FTC’s proposal triggers several concerns. State, not federal, law currently regulates non-compete clauses. And courts assessing their competitive impact weigh how they affect incentives to train workers and how they safeguard business secrets. An FTC rule broadly banning such provisions would alter incentives to train workers and develop innovative technologies in the United States. It also runs headlong into recent Supreme Court guidance that agencies must have clear authority from Congress when they regulate a significant portion of the US economy or implement policies that states have predominately addressed.
Please join Hudson Senior Fellow Harold Furchtgott-Roth for a discussion on this topic with Maureen K. Ohlhausen, partner and section chair of antitrust and competition law at Baker Botts. Ohlhausen served as acting FTC chairman from January 2017 to May 2018, and prior to that as commissioner beginning in 2012.
At Sea Air Space 2025, Senior Fellows Bryan Clark and Timothy A. Walton will discuss their findings with a panel of government and industry experts tasked with implementing these ideas.
The Hudson Institute Political Studies Policy Certificate Program gathers talented early career professionals for advanced study of American foreign and domestic policy and national security, led by policy experts and experienced government officials.
Murray will join Hudson Senior Fellow Dr. Rebeccah L. Heinrichs for a discussion on his conversations in the Middle East, the aftermath of the October 7 massacre, and the historical and moral dimensions of the ongoing conflict between Israel and the terrorists who seek to destroy it.
In this episode, experts discuss what regional powers such as the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Türkiye, and Qatar are doing in the Horn, their strategies and motivations, and the impact they might have on the region.
