Word: engman
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...wrote one of the working papers prepared to stimulate discussion, suggested stamina and youth as helpful qualities. "Younger leaders are readier to venture in the dark. They haven't had their teeth knocked out as yet, and they are ready to take chances." Washington Lawyer Lewis Engman, 40, head of the Federal Trade Commission under Nixon, agreed: "One constant is the willingness to take risks, to row the boat out beyond the shore without the assurance that you will be able to get back...
That philosophy may find the FTC attacking business methods in one regard, supporting them in another. Thus the commission advocates the banning of advertising that Engman deems deceptive because it unfairly attracts buyers. Nonetheless, Engman is vigorously for advertising, which he believes is necessary if consumers are to "make a rational choice" among competing products. The FTC recently acted to permit pharmacists to advertise the price of prescription drugs (TIME, June 16). Engman would also like to break what he terms the "conspiracies of silence" by the closely knit associations of doctors, lawyers and funeral directors...
...Lawyer Engman does not use the term conspiracy lightly. He means it in its strict antitrust sense. Engman's FTC has been quick-too quick, some business critics say-to deploy the key weapon that the commission shares with the Justice Department: the power to press antitrust charges. To date, Engman's legal staff has brought no fewer than 31 antitrust suits, most notably its 1973 complaint against Exxon and seven other big U.S. oil companies. The FTC's argument: the firms control so much of the petroleum business-from wellhead through refinery to gasoline pump-that...
Businessmen, Engman observes wryly, "love free enterprise but hate competition, which is something for the other guy." He sees the FTC as "the policeman on the economic beat," charged with ensuring that free competition survives. Yet though he wants smaller businesses to survive, he has no sympathy for inefficiency. In fact, his assault on outmoded federal regulatory agencies stems from his belief that they perpetuate poor business practices. He argues that the Civil Aeronautics Board and the Interstate Commerce Commission have allowed the regulated transportation industries to become "federal protectorates living in a cozy world of 'cost-plus...
Critics complain that Engman's emphasis on antitrust may mire the FTC in years of litigation, to the detriment of its consumer watchdog activities. But defenders of his legal activism point to the fact that for the first time in years, top law-school graduates are seeking jobs at the FTC. One current question in Washington is how long Engman will be there to lead them. It would be no surprise to some Engman watchers if, when Michigan Democratic Senator Philip Hart retires after his current term, Native Son Engman tries for his seat...