Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book provides an explanation for the backlash as well as for the linkage making possible consumerist capture of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The case study of the FTC appropriations crisis of 1980 is intended to provide historical understanding of the network relationships between the public and private sectors in the United States during our modern period. The book demonstrates conclusively that "the new era of regulatory cautious and reduced activity" preceded the Reagan administration and the efforts of Reagan's FTC commission head appointment, James C. Miller III, to effect "substantial cutbacks in the FTC's antitrust power". It was obvious that the dominant FTC individuals had not been shrewd enough to realize when they reached the stage counterproductive even to their own interests.