Antitrust Laws - Why Monopoly Is Unlawful.?
Antitrust laws are nationwide regulations that encourage competition by limiting the market power of any particular firm. This often involves ensuring that mergers and acquisitions don’t overly concentrate market power or form monopolies, as well as breaking up firms that have become monopolies.
Antitrust laws also prevent multiple firms from colluding or forming a cartel to limit competition through practices such as price fixing. Due to the complexity of deciding what practices will limit competition, antitrust law has become a distinct legal specialization.
1 - Antitrust laws were designed to protect and promote competition within all sectors of the economy.
2 - The Sherman Act, the Federal Trade Commission Act, and the Clayton Act are the three pivotal laws in the history of antitrust regulation.
3 - Today, the Federal Trade Commission, sometimes in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Justice, is tasked with enforcing federal antitrust laws.
The antitrust laws prohibit conduct by a single firm (such as Amazon, Google and alike) that unreasonably restrains competition by creating or maintaining monopoly power. Most Section 2 claims involve the conduct of a firm with a leading market position, although Section 2 of the Sherman Act also bans attempts to monopolize and conspiracies to monopolize. As a first step, courts ask if the firm has "monopoly power" in any market. This requires in-depth study of the products sold by the leading firm, and any alternative products consumers may turn to if the firm attempted to raise prices. Then courts ask if that leading position was gained or maintained through improper conduct that is, something other than merely having a better product, superior management or historic accident. Here courts evaluate the anticompetitive effects of the conduct and its procompetitive justifications.
https://www.ftc.gov/advice-guidance/...
https://www.justice.gov/archives/...
