Antitrust 101: What Monopoly Law Protects and Why

Antitrust laws are the rules that keep companies from crushing competition. In the United States, three federal statutes do most of the work: the Sherman Act of 1890, the Clayton Act of 1914 and the Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914. Their goal, as the Federal Trade Commission puts it, has stayed the same for over a century: protect the process of competition so businesses keep prices down and quality up. That sounds simple. The hard part is deciding when a big company crosses the line. Having a large market share is not a crime. Using that position to shut rivals out can be. This article explains what the law actually prohibits, how merger review works and why the standards behind it are contested. Where did the word "antitrust" come from? The name is a relic. In the late 1800s, industrialists used trusts — legal arrangements that held separate companies under common ownership — to consolidate entire industries under one control. Oil, steel and sugar giants grew this way.

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