The Federal Trade Commission Act

The paper will serve as a historical background overview of how the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTC) came into existence. The paper will also break down the key components for which the FTC covers, such as deceptive advertising, baiting and switching and consumer fraud. There will be examples

Competition is the cornerstone of capitalism. It creates rivalry among businesses to produce quality goods and services at competitive prices. This gives consumers a better sense of variety when making purchases. Competition in its purest form creates small buyers and sellers none of which are too large to negatively affect the market as a whole. Competitive markets can be dated back to ancient times when merchants competed in foreign trade. In the 19th century economists considered competition as a natural phenomenon in which growth of an operation was fueled by supply and demand in a free market economy. They also believed that supply and demand worked better in a laissez faire type environment. This was possible through freedom to trade, transparent knowledge of market conditions, no government restrictions on trade, and access to buyers and sellers. These conditions prevented any buyer or seller to significantly affect the market price of a single commodity. After the mid 1800’s, limitations to compete became evident during the industrial revolution. Corporations achieved manufacturing capabilities that would surpass their competitors and would allow them to fix prices and squeeze out their rivals. Eventually some businesses became so large that they controlled enough market share to deceptively manipulate prices in their industry. This activity created an atmosphere for President Theodore Roosevelt to launch his famous trust busting campaigns. The era of antitrust

When Woodrow Wilson was inaugurated in 1913, he stated in his address that, “We shall deal with our economic system as it is and as it may be modified, not as it might be if we had a clean sheet of paper to write upon” (First Inaugural Address, online). He did just that when he passed the Clayton Antitrust Act in October 1914. The Sherman Antitrust Act was passed in 1890, but it was very vague in the way it described monopolies (Clayton Antitrust Act, online). Big business took advantage of the loopholes, which diminished competition (Clayton Antitrust Act, online). Although Roosevelt and Taft successfully busted about 150 trusts, big businesses continued to grow and our entire economic system remained in the hands of a few men (Taft Biography, online; T. Roosevelt – Section 8, online; Clayton Antitrust, online). Wilson requested Congress to modify the Sherman Antitrust Act, and the Clayton Antitrust Act was born (Clayton Antitrust, online). It is “An Act To supplement existing laws against unlawful restraints and monopolies, and for other purposes” (HR 15657, online). The Sherman Act simply declared monopolies illegal, while the Clayton Act declared activities linked with monopolies to be illegal (Clayton Antitrust Act, online). Such activities include mergers and acquisitions that are intended “substantially to lessen competition, or to tend to create a monopoly” (HR 15657, online). The Federal Trade Commission Act, passed about a month before the Clayton Act, banned

There was an increase in technology, factory production, production of steel and oil. This industry produced a lot of wealth for businessmen like Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and Henry Clay Frick. These trusts were huge economics forces and had the power to manipulate prices. In response to these trusts, Congress passed the Sherman Antitrust Act in 1890. The Sherman Antitrust Act prohibited trusts and was based on the power of Congress to regulate interstate commerce. However the Sherman Antitrust act did little to stop the growth of trusts, but instead was used against labor unions. The act restricted labor unions by cease and desist orders against strikers and their unions. Cease and desist prohibited a person from doing a certain activity, and in this case it meant that laborers could not strike. By not allowing a worker to strike is not letting them achieve their full citizenship rights. The Sherman Antitrust act did more to restrict human rights than ban

Before 1890, a few companies completely dominated major industries. Stockholders’ trusts eliminated competition and created monopolies, which in turn hurt American consumers and the economy as a whole. However, this all changed in 1890 when Congress passed the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. It was the first regulation of American businesses, outlawing monopolies and trusts, which created a way for the government to control the economy. Congress should have passed the Sherman Anti-Trust Act because it protects consumer rights, controls the economy, and eliminates monopolistic business practices.

The Sherman Act of 1890 created the legislation to declare the existing monopolies illegal and made violation of the Act a felony, essentially deeming the existing monopolies in violation of the law. These two regulations made common practices such as price fixing and market divisions illegal. The Sherman Act would open the doors for individuals and government agencies such as the U.S

    With all that information, let’s talk more about the Clayton Act. Clayton Act (2)is an amendment passed by U.S. Congress in 1914 that provides further clarification and substance to the  Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 on topics

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was created in 1914 primarily as a way for the government to “trust bust” or apply regulations ensuring a free marketplace for U.S. consumers and business enterprises. In this regard, the FTC enforces antitrust viola- tions that could hamper consumer interests, as well as federal consumer protection laws against fraud, deception, and unfair business practices. The commission’s primary enforcement mechanism is the Bureau of Consumer Protection, which is divided into seven divisions: (1) enforcement, (2) advertising practices, (3) financial practices, (4) marketing practices, (5) planning and information, (6) consumer and business educa- tion programs, and (7) privacy and identity protection.21 As the federal

Antitrust law in the United States is a collection of federal and state government laws regulating the conduct and organization of business corporations with the intent to promote fair competition in an open-market economy for the benefit of the public. Congress passed the first antitrust statute, the Sherman Antitrust Act, in 1890 in response to the public outrage toward big business. In 1914, Congress passed two additional antitrust laws: the Federal Trade Commission Act and the Clayton Act. (The Antitrust Laws. Web.)

The Sherman Antitrust Act was enacted on July 2nd, 1890 which prohibits activities that restrict interstate commerce and competition in the marketplace.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has been in protecting consumer privacy on the internet by targeting deceptive and unfair trade practices since the act was establish in 1914( Halbert & Ingulli, 2012, p. 253). According to Halbert & Ingulli (2012) the FTC banned

The Sherman Anti-Trust is not explicit in its terms and it is not clear whether a trust is illegal or preventing competition is. In Section one of the act, it says that a trust has to also be “in restraint of trade or commerce among the several states, or with foreign nations” to fully be declared illegal. Even in section two of the act, it states,” Every person who shall monopolize, or attempt to monopolize, or combine or conspire with any other person or persons, to monopolize any part of the trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, shall be deemed guilty of a felony” (Cornell). The lines “among the several states” can be used as a

Starting in 1902, reporters, referred to as Muckrakers, began publishing stories, which informed the general public of corruption in the business world. President Roosevelt spearheaded the task of breaking up trusts that he considered a danger to the public wellbeing. However, federal regulation of businesses proved difficult because of vague language the Sherman anti-trust act of 1890, although in 1914 the Clayton Anti-trust Act changed regulations: making them much clearer and closing loopholes. During this time, despite the controversy, the federal government created a central banking system with the 1913 Federal Reserve Act and later that year the 16th amendment was established and set restrictions on taxable income of individuals and

The Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890 was passed to prohibit trusts, this was the first law passed by U.S. Congress to enforce this. This act was named after Senator John Sherman. Before this act was put into place, many other states had enforced laws very similar to the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. These laws were not perfect though, the large corporations had the majority of the economic power. Congress was not pleased with this, thus making the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. This act allowed Congress to regulate interstate commerce, outlawing monopolistic practices. If a person were to violate this act, he or she could be imprisoned for a year and fined five-thousand dollars. This law was successfully used to help Theodore Roosevelt during his campaign, “trust-busting”. Also, President Taft used the law to back himself up against the Standard Oil Trust and American Tobacco Company. The Standard Oil trust was when a board of nine trustees was set up to make all of the company decisions , allowing the company to run as a monopoly. The Sherman Anti-Trust Act allowed both presidents to dissolve the trusts that were creating problems. On the other hand, the Sherman Anti-Trust Act had many holes, it did not have exact wording, therefore allowing companies to still control the majority of the producing and still get away with it. The Sherman Anti-Trust Act had substantial success, but was put to rest and replaced with the Clayton Anti-Trust

Due to the vague language the Sherman Antitrust Law was written rather vaguely, the Democratic Party passed the Clayton Antitrust Act in 1914. The Clayton Antitrust Act prohibited practices that lessened competition or tended to create a monopoly. The framework of the Clayton Antitrust Law banned five unlawful business practices. Price discrimination, Interlocking stockholding, Interlocking directorates, Tying contracts, and Exclusive dealings were the five bad business practices.