THE AMERICAN ANTITRUST LAWS
| Date | 01 May 1955 |
| Published date | 01 May 1955 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2230.1955.tb00297.x |
| Author | Donald F. Turner |
THE
AMERICAN ANTITRUST LAWS
WHEN the
U.S.
Congress passed its first
‘‘
antitrust
”
law-the
Sherman Act-in
1890,
American business became subject to a
governmentally enforced policy of competition. Sixty-five years
later, that Act is still the central core of American economic
philosophy. No major political party would think of attacking
it
directly. Protection of competition is the accepted policy.
If
exceptions are to be made, the burden of proof is
on
those who
would make them. Indeed, exceptions are rarely called excep-
tions unless their nature is clear. They usually travel under the
happier labels of
“
fair competition,”
“
rational competition,”
and the like.
Exceptions have certainly been made. Many industries are
regulated as monopolies
or
near monopolies; wages may be set
by collective bargaining
;
farm prices receive governmental support;
and resale price maintenance
is
broadly permitted in the field
of
distribution.
Nevertheless, despite exceptions, uneven enforcement
,
and
wavering judicial attitudes, the antitrust laws have played a
strong and pervasive role in the development of the American
economy.
I
shall try here
to
give
in
broad outline what that role has been,
by summarising what the antitrust laws are, what effects they have
wrought, and what unresolved problems and issues of policy are
particularly important to their future course.
I
should state, as a
note of caution, that
I
have omitted many qualifications and
refinements of the subject, possibly some important ones; and that
many of the conclusions being matters of opinion, the opinions
expressed are my own.
I-THE
ANTITRUST
LAWS
Zntroduc
tion
The basic premise
of
the American antitrust laws is that proper
allocation of economic resources, efficiency, high quality, low
prices, and new developments will best be promoted by the more
or
less automatic mechanism of competitive markets. Regulation
of
economic activity is not to be left
in
private hands, even though
at times private regulation might seem to be consistent with the
public interest. Hence the law is directed against any substantial
interference with the free play of competitive pressures, not merely
against interference which produces bad results.
Limitations
on
competition may be due to specific actions-
agreements among competitors, predatory tactics, and restrictive
244
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