Commission Announces Third U.S. Roundtable on FTC at 100: Into Our Second Century

The Federal Trade Commission today announced its third U.S. roundtable to be held as part of the ongoing agency initiative “FTC at 100: Into Our Second Century.” The event, which is free and open to the public, will be held at the Boston University School of Management on October 14, 2008. The roundtable will focus on the agency’s deployment of resources in its pursuit of its competition mission, including the optimal use of enforcement and other available tools, and the effectiveness of the FTC’s enforcement and other efforts in the competition area.

Announced in mid-June, the FTC at 100 initiative stems from Chairman William E. Kovacic’s statement that, “There is no substitute for the agency’s own sustained efforts to get things right.” The Commission’s 100th anniversary is in 2014. The over-arching goal of the self-assessment is to revisit fundamental questions about the possibilities for improvement prior to the anniversary, to enable the FTC to be the strongest possible agency at this historic juncture. The initiative’s first roundtable event was held in Washington, DC, on July 29-30, 2008, and additional roundtables will be held in various domestic and international locations this fall.

The Boston roundtable will begin with opening remarks by Alden F. Abbott, Associate Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, and will feature panels moderated by Andrew J. Heimert of the Office of Policy & Coordination, Bureau of Competition; and Michael Salinger, former director of the FTC’s Bureau of Economics and Professor/Everett W. Lord Distinguished Faculty Scholar, Finance and Economics Department, Boston University School of Management. Panelists at the roundtable will include former FTC staff members, as well as academics, practitioners, and industry representatives.

Topics to be covered at the roundtable include: 1) the optimal use of the agency’s enforcement, advocacy, and education tools; 2) case generation and selection; 3) burdens imposed by the agency’s enforcement efforts; 4) setting a competition research agenda; and 5) evaluation of the effectiveness of the FTC’s enforcement and other efforts in the competition area.

Logistics

The Boston roundtable will be held from 10:00 a.m. until 2:45 p.m. on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 at the Boston University School of Management, 595 Commonwealth Ave., Rooms 426 and 428, Boston, Massachusetts. Pre-registration is not required. A full agenda for the roundtable, including a list of panelists, can be found on the FTC’s Web site at http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/workshops/ftc100/index.shtm.

Reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities are available upon request. Requests for such accommodations should be submitted via e-mail to Mary Sforza at msforza@bu.edu. Such requests should include a detailed description of the accommodations needed and a way to contact you if we need more information. Please provide advance notice.

The Federal Trade Commission works for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint in English or Spanish, visit the FTC's online Complaint Assistant or call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357). The FTC enters complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to more than 1,500 civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad. The FTC's Web site provides free information on a variety of consumer topics.

(FTC at 100 - Boston.final.wpd)