‘Big Isn’t Bad’ to Get Grilling in Kickoff FTC Hearing

U.S. antitrust enforcers are about to put a key tenet of their philosophy — by itself, big isn’t bad — to the Socratic test.

The Federal Trade Commission is set to convene a Sept. 13 panel discussion evaluating the concern among some people that lax antitrust enforcement in recent decades has led to corporate consolidation that has harmed competition and the economy.

Congressional Democrats and public interest advocates are pushing for an expansion of U.S. antitrust enforcement, citing data that markets across the economy have become too concentrated, resulting in problems such as wage stagnation.

“The FTC has not been ...