FCC COMMISSIONER AJIT PAI STATEMENT ON THE RESIGNATION OF COMMISSIONER JOSHUA WRIGHT FROM THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, August 17, 2015.

I am saddened to learn that Commissioner Joshua Wright is resigning from the Federal Trade Commission. Commissioner Wright leaves the agency with a tremendous legacy. He brought to the FTC’s decision-making groundbreaking economic analysis, such as his opinion in Ardagh / St. Gobain that the government should evaluate possible merger efficiencies under a standard of proof similar to that applied to predicted anticompetitive effects. He proposed and reached across the aisle to accomplish major reforms, such as the FTC’s recent clarification of its Section 5 authority to police “unfair methods of competition” (something the agency had never done in its century-long existence). And he was gracious enough to collaborate with me on several issues, such as Internet regulation. Consumers across the country are better off for Commissioner Wright’s efforts. I wish him the best as he returns to George Mason University to teach law and economics.