HomeGlossaryFederal Trade Commission (FTC)
Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
Independent U.S. agency with a twin mission: stop unfair methods of competition (often with the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division) and curb deceptive or unfair commercial practices affecting consumers.
Created in 1914, the FTC can challenge mergers and conduct administratively or in court, pursue “unfair methods of competition” under the FTC Act, and promulgate trade regulation rules (privacy, advertising substantiation, and more). The Bureau of Economics supplies industrial-organization analysis—market definition, merger simulation, and theories of harm.
Enforcement philosophy swings with leadership and precedent: decades oscillate between interventionist merger control, Chicago-influenced caution, and renewed interest in labor markets, privacy, and dominant platforms.
DOJ and the practitioner divide
Criminal cartel work sits mainly with the Antitrust Division; the FTC often leads on consumer-protection rulemaking and some civil competition matters. Private plaintiffs and state attorneys general add another layer—so outcomes depend on overlapping statutes, not the FTC alone.
Antitrust thread
Read alongside antitrust, market concentration, and the Antitrust Division’s shared merger docket; politics-of-antitrust covers how elected politics feeds back on agency choice.