The US Laws and Guidelines Governing Fair and Equitable Business Practices

There are different types of businesses, for example, some use monopolies, trust and pools, while other eliminate competition for higher prices. As stated in “Progressive reformers regarded regulation as a cure for all sorts of socioeconomic and political problems” , “The Sherman Act of 1890 attempted to outlaw the restriction of competition by large companies that co-operated with rivals to fix outputs, prices, and market shares, initially through pools and later through trusts” , meaning, competition is the

Antitrust laws are federal and state government laws that regulate the conduct and organization or businesses. This helps promote fair competition for consumers. There are four main areas involving the

United States antitrust law is a collection of federal and state government laws, which regulates the conduct and organization of business corporations, generally to promote fair competition for the benefit of consumers. The main statute was the Sherman act of 1890, it is the basis for U.S. antitrust law, and many states have modeled their own statutes upon it. As weaknesses in the Sherman Act became evident, Congress added amendments to it at various times through 1950 the Clayton act of 1914,

Events that led to the creation of the FTC. July 2, 1890, the Sherman Anti-Trust Act was the first law passed by congress to prevent monopolistic business practices. Named after Senator John Sherman of Ohio, he had this law to pass the senate with a unanimous vote of 51-1 and the House with a vote of 242-0. President Harrison signed it into law in 1890. The Sherman Anti-Trust Act authorized government to make it illegal to make a “restraint of trade or commerce among the several states or with foreign nations”. Those that did not abide by this law resulted in a $5,000 fine and a year in prison. “The Sherman Act was designed to reestablish competition but was loosely worded and unsuccessful to define terms as “trust,” “combination,” “conspiracy,” and “monopoly” (www.ourdocuments.gov, 2013)”. Because of this “loosely worded” act, the Supreme Court prevented the federal government from using the act for many years up until President Theodore Roosevelt came along with his “trust-busting” campaigns. In 1904 the Supreme Court finally supported the government in its suit for “termination of the Northern Securities Company and the act was further employed by President Taft in 1911 against the

The Federal Trade Commission was created to promote competition through its enforcement of the Sherman and Clayton Antitrust Acts.

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 first antitrust law passed by Congress was the Sherman Act, in 1890. In 1914, Congress passed two other antitrust laws: The Federal Trade Commission Act, which created the Federal Trade Commission, and the Clayton Act. With some revisions, these are the most important federal antitrust laws still in effect today. Section 7 of the Clayton Act prohibits mergers and acquisitions when the effect "may be substantially to lessen competition, or to tend to create a monopoly." (ftc.gov) The antitrust laws proscribe unlawful mergers and business practices in general terms, leaving courts to decide which ones are illegal based on the facts of each case. For over 100 years, the antitrust laws have had the same basic objective: to protect the process of competition for the benefit of consumers, making sure there are strong incentives for businesses to operate efficiently, keep prices down, and keep quality up. The enforcement authorities of the federal antitrust laws are The Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division (ftc.gov).

What is the goal of antitrust liability? Antitrust laws are designed to protect competition in markets. Early in the nation’s history, there was widespread fear of the dangers of monopolies and other restrictions on competition. In 1890, Congress passed the Sherman Antitrust Act in order to prevent limits on competition caused by private parties. Thus the main goal of antitrust law is to preserve “economic freedom” and a “free-enterprise system.” Specifically, it attempts to preserve “the freedom to compete” for businesses. In a practical sense, antitrust laws are seeking to prevent burdens on competition in the marketplace.

The anti-trust laws were set in place to promote vigorous competition but also to protect the consumer from unfair mergers and business practices. The first antitrust law that was passed by Congress is called the Sherman Act and is a “comprehensive charter of economic liberty aimed at preserving free and unfettered competition as the rule of trade” according to www.FTC.gov . Later in 1914 Congress passed two more laws, one creating the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTCA) and then the Clayton Act, which now create the three core federal antitrust laws that are still active currently. Although they have changed over the last hundred years, they still have the same concept: “to protect the process of competition for the benefit of consumers,

Antitrust laws are a collection of laws and regulations, put into place over time, to help govern the competiveness of large corporations. Enforced by the Federal Trade Commission and the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) (“Antitrust Laws,” 2003), the laws help regulate ethical behavior between businesses to ensure that smaller businesses can compete with the bigger name corporations. Mergers and monopolies come into play and greatly affect how these businesses run. This paper will look at two different instances of possible violated laws and discuss the specifics. The first case deals with a pharmaceutical company, the second two telecommunications companies. One question being answered for both examples is what kind of ethical dilemmas are present. Read on as the cases are examined.

The United States stands as an example of a sovereignty with a flourishing democracy and stands as an economic powerhouse. The countries’ quick rise to prominence can be attributed to the success of its industrial era. The mix of

The purpose of antitrust laws is to both promote and protect competition. They aren’t designed to go after big companies simply because they are bigger or more successful than others in their industry. They aren’t anti-market or anti-business. They are intended to be just the opposite, in fact. They are meant to promote successful market economics through the assurance of healthy competition while keeping abuses of the system in check that could overrun the market.

Review Article on the purpose of the antitrust laws is to protect and support free competition

These aspect are all key, but probably the most vital two are rivalry and cooperation within the nation. These tie in with Porter’s theory of industry clusters. The idea behind of rivalry and cooperation within a nation is that the rivalry will help drive the firms forward and the cooperation will also help each firm be more competitive in the global market. The firm may share ideas of production or new technological revolutions. This information would be shared within an industry cluster. “..the fundamental source of the domestic industry’s global competitive advantage may well be domestic cooperation that ensures the collectivization of knowledge-a process that gives those individual enterprises within the domestic industry that share knowledge and ability to engage in continuous innovation.” (Lazonick, 1991) Industry clusters are “geographic concentrations of interconnected companies, specialized suppliers, service providers, firms in related industries, and associated institutions (for example, universities, standards agencies, and trade associations) in particular fields that compete but also cooperate.” (Porter, 1979) The importance and role of clusters, from Porter’s

It is true that antitrust laws that are aimed to curb monopolistic behaviors help to promote competition in the market. Antitrust laws endeavor to encourage competition and promote the production of