Sherman Act
Antitrust Enforcement Led to the Creation of the Telephone
Aaron M. Honsowetz recounts how Senator John Sherman’s lesser-known antitrust bill, the 1866 Post Roads Act, uprooted local barriers to entry for telegraphy companies, which led them to invest more in R&D and ultimately helped produce the telephone.
The Antitrust Agencies’ Focus on Monopolization Claims Against Big Tech Dilutes the Meaning of Monopoly
The various antitrust complaints the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission have brought against Google, Amazon, and Facebook are based on monopolization claims under Section 2 of the Sherman Act. Herbert Hovenkamp explains why the government should also have relied on Section 1 of the Sherman Act and Section 7 of the Clayton Act to support their Big Tech cases.
Four Misconceptions About the Consumer Welfare Standard
Nicolas Petit and Lazar Radic refute common critiques of the consumer welfare standard. A second article will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of different antitrust standards, underscoring some points often ignored by the critics of the consumer welfare standard.
DOJ Antitrust Head Jonathan Kanter: “We Are Making It Very Clear: We’re Going to Hold Individuals Accountable”
In an interview with ProMarket, assistant attorney general Jonathan Kanter, head of the Department of Justice’s antitrust division, explains why he believes that the...
The Dawn of Antitrust and the Egalitarian Roots of the Sherman Act
While it isn’t particularly controversial that concentrated economic power was a legislative target of the Sherman Act, when read as a corollary or even...
The Sherman Act and Abuse of Dominance in the Age of Networks
In order to be more effective in networked markets, the US should adopt a version of the EU’s “abuse of dominance” standard that could...
Antitrust Law’s Unwritten Rules of Unfair Competition
Does the Sherman Act actually “protect competition, not competitors”? An examination of the case law reveals a more nuanced picture, in which the courts...
A New Antitrust Under Biden? Lessons From the Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt
The early history of the Sherman Antitrust Act offers relevant insights to contemporary debates on how to best enforce antitrust laws. In fact, the...
Allowing Digital Platforms to Continue Picking the Winners and Losers of Our Economy Is Un-American
Antitrust law aims to stop established companies from shutting out competitors. We should revive enforcement against exclusionary conduct, as well as structurally eliminate the...
Antitrust Law’s Current Stance Toward Workers Violates Its Original Purpose to Balance Power With Powerful Firms
Antitrust law’s present-day bias against democratic cooperation and in favor of top-down corporate control has contributed more broadly to the institutional weakness and perceived...
