ANTITRUST LAWS: A series of laws passed by the U. S. government that tries to maintain competition and prevent businesses from getting a monopoly or otherwise obtaining and exerting market control. The first of these, the Sherman Antitrust Act, was passed in 1890. Two others, the Clayton Act and the Federal Trade Commission Act, were enacted in 1914. These laws impose all sorts of restrictions on business ownership, control, mergers, pricing, and how businesses go about competing (or cooperating) with each other. See also | Sherman Act | Clayton Act | Federal Trade Commission Act | Federal Trade Commission | monopoly | oligopoly | government | regulation | market control | merger | natural monopoly | price fixing | first estate | second estate | third estate |
