Kroger and Albertsons think the merger will lower prices. Their stock is falling.

With inflation still an unchecked threat, the grocery store merger announced Friday

Kroger

and

Albertsons

will fuel the debate over whether consolidation will increase food prices or decrease prices.

The Biden administration’s antitrust regulators are looking at mergers more closely than their predecessors, and an old argument against combinations is that they lead to price gouging.