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> What's the point of getting FTC approval

Efficiency? The people at the FTC reviewing mergers can't be experts of every corner of the economy, but if they catch an illegal merger during the approval process it can be blocked early without having to go to court.

An illegal merger is illegal no matter what. It's the corporation's responsibility to not break the law.

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I'm positive that OP understands the reason for an FTC approval. Why did you cut the quote off in the middle of the sentence? The point is about why it's acceptable for the FTC to approve something, and then years later come back and change the decision.

I was too lazy to add an ellipsis. I was replying to the whole comment.

> The point is about why it's acceptable for the FTC to approve something, and then years later come back and change the decision.

I addressed that in my comment (it was the entire point of my comment, actually)

It seems inefficient to retcon mergers as illegal a decade later. A merger is not necessarily black and white illegal or legal; just something vague on a grey spectrum that the FTC happens to be choosing to color an argument for one way or the other depending on current administrative priorities.

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