President Joe Biden signed an executive order Friday that encourages economic competition throughout the United States.
He said in a Friday speech that the order includes cracking down on practices of big tech companies, calling on the end to non-compete agreements and lowering prices for consumers.
The competition EO means better wages and lower costs. Here’s just a few things it will do:
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) July 9, 2021
- Limit non-compete agreements
- Prevent excessive internet termination fees
- Bring down prescription prices with more generic options
- Make it easier and cheaper to get hearing aids
"The heart of American capitalism is a simple idea: open and fair competition," Biden said ahead of signing the order. "Capitalism without competition isn't capitalism. It's exploitation. Without healthy competition big players can change and charge whatever they want, and treat you however they want — and for too many Americans that means accepting a bad deal for things you can't go without."
He said he was a “proud capitalist” but that he wants to “ensure our economy isn’t about people working for capitalism, it’s about capitalism working for people.”
Biden then attributed the increase in influence of U.S. corporations to former administrations, namely, that of former President Ronald Reagan, who took office in the early 1980s, saying that “forty years ago, we chose the wrong path, in my view,”
“We are now 40 years into the experiment of letting giant corporations acquire more and more power,” he said. “I believe the experiment has failed.”
Biden's executive order consists of more than 70 initiatives by more than a dozen federal agencies. A White House Competition Council will be created to observe the progress of these agencies.