Sherman act essays

Sherman act essays Types of Agreements (Restraint of Trade) The main causes of the antitrust laws are the U.S. can be traced back to two main sources: 1. the revolution of railroads and large firms, and 2. the Great Depression era. The evolution of the railroads created markets where trading can be possible nationwide, which caused big firms to engage in price-fixing, violations of trusts, and monopolizations to exist. The common people, especially farmers, were infuriated because there were no ulterior methods for transportation other than via railroad. Labor people, producers, and retail sectors were also enraged with this new form of transportation because they were at the mercy of the large firms. Therefore, to prevent this form of monopoly from jeopardizing the stability of the United States economy, Congress set forth the Sherman Act, Section 1 into motion in 1890. Section 1 of the Sherman Act specifies every contract, combination in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or commerce...is hereby declared to be illegal. However, these antitrust laws (which describe unlawful practices due to restraint of trade) are stated in rather vague terms, which then leave the role of the Supreme Court to interpret their meanings of what is deemed a violation of the Sherman Act. The Supreme Court ruled early cases involving Trans-Missouri and Addyston Pipe and Steel (1897 and 1898 respectively) to the highest level of extent. The courts held that under the specific wording of section one, and that there are certain categories of practices should be conclusively unlawful, there will be no exceptions. Therefore, these two cases which involved overt price-fixing, were deemed harmful to consumers and the economy, and so are illegal per se. Another infamous instance involving explicit collusion to fix prices is the Westinghouse-General Electric (and 27 other firms) case of 1960. The main ...