A competitive market consists of many buyers and sellers. Markets thrive because an equilibrium price is established through natural competition and no single buyer or seller can affect that price. Instead both buyer and seller must take the price given by the market based on the dynamics of supply and demand. This competition is healthy and necessary to the economy because it regulates price, production, promotes and motivates innovation and improvement. In comparison, a monopoly dictates its price and quantity based on demand. It has the potential to influence prices and does so to increase profits. Regarding production, a monopolist produces below the demand curve in order to charge higher prices to consumers. Less production and higher prices clearly illustrate the inefficiency of a monopoly and the harm it may cause to the economy.

Section 1 primarily prohibits any contract or action whose aim is an unreasonable restrain on trade or commerce. Violates of Section 2 result from misuse or abuse of market power in order to gain or maintain a monopoly. Such actions generally target existing competition or prevent the rise of future competitors. Some examples of such actions are refusal to sell to a particular customer in order to eliminate competition, lowering prices below cost (price war), and contracts that close channels of distribution or supplies to competitors. Though its interpretation is not particularly clear, The Sherman Anti-Trust Act is the standard used for determining trade misconduct and violates.

prevent a handful of monopolies and trusts (another form of monopolization) from controlling the economy, Congress passed the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890. Signed into law by President Benjamin Harrison on July 2, 1890, the law consists of two sections.

January 2, 1882 marked the formation of the Standard Oil Trust. It was the invention of attorney Samuel Dodd and fueled by the control of John D. Rockefeller. Rockefeller began by concentrating on the refining business. He then expanded to other aspects of the oil industry to include extraction, sales, transportation, research, marketing even to the point of barrel manufacturing. The practices that brought Standard Oil to its peak became the evidence of its demise. Rockefeller kept a low profile on his company earnings and hid the profits by reinvesting. Other acts were more covert and damaging. Standard Oil had agreements with the railroads in which the railroad provided not only a lower tra

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