Monopolies and Trust Busting
Monopolies and "trust-busting" have been an ever-present part of the vast changing economic world of free enterprise capitalism in the United States of America. While the most notorious of these big trust were dissolved in the earlier part of the twentieth century, there still remains an element of government concern about the development of growing corporations or the merging of huge business competitors today. All of this congressional concern started with the passing of the Sherman Anti-trust Act in 1890. Other states had passed similar legislation, but this legislation was limited to intrastate business. The regulating questions that resulted from this act were very important to the protection of the ignorant consumers that represent the general public. The Sherman Anti-trust Act, named for Senator John Sherman, resulted from widespread opposition to the concentration of economic power in big business and cooperation among other businesses. Passed in 1890 the act did little in the years to follow because Supreme Court rulings prevented federal authorities from pursuing the regulation of the trusts. With Theodore Roosevelt in office in the early twentieth century, the administration took an active role and began a series of "
trust-busting" campaigns. This activism showed the true effectiveness of the Sherman Act. The Supreme Court in 1904 sided with the government in its suit against the Northern Securities Company. Roosevelt is a big part of the history of business in the U.S.A. Previous presidents had been unable to venture against the rich corporate owners for fear of political, social, or financial scrutiny from these corporate owners. In the latter century presidents such as Hamilton believed that the rich should stay ri! After the 1980's the FTC and the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice served a more passive role. As the 1990's advanced there was still large number of big business mergers. As a result of these mergers the FTC was forced to become litigious in anti-trust actions. The most recent of these increased business probing was the Justice Department's active pursuance of Microsoft. Or more importantly, Bill Gates, has been in and out of court recently on the charge that his company is a monopoly and is dangerous to the economic welfare of the U.S. public. What happens to Microsoft the future only holds. "In some important areas of the economy, notably labor and agriculturally the ideal of competition is either repudiated or qualified; but in the interrelation of business firms, the American people do endorse a policy of competition." Marshall, Howard D., Business and Government: The Problem of Power. Lexington: D.C. Heath and Company, 1970. ch and that this upper class should control the country. In country, I mean the economic deals that decide the supply and price of goods, mainly manufactured goods at that time and Roosevelt's time. Roosevelt fascinates me with this amazing courage to take big business head on with legislation and with downright bullying. "Addressed to the trust question, Roosevelt stated that without equivocation that the old laws and customs regulating the accumulation and distribution of wealth 'no longer efficient." This statement shows Roosevelt's avid want to change the trusts and all their controlling power. Roosevelt's concerns grew through out the years and led to the formation of the Interstate Commerce Commission or the ICC. He once stated, "that an Adminis
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Approximate Word count = 1497
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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