EOTO #2 Blog Post

 Links: 

https://www.britannica.com/event/Sherman-Antitrust-Act

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/sherman-antiturst-act.asp 

In 1890, the Sherman AntiTrust Act was passed in order to reduce economic competitions and to help cut back on combinations of power that would interfere with trade. The Act was named after U.S. senator John Sherman of Ohio, who came up with and proposed the act to congress in 1890. The Sherman AntiTrust Act was the first attempt by the United States congress to address the use of trusts as a tool that helps a certain number of individuals to control unquestionable key industries. The main reason why Antitrust laws like this one exist is to  promote competition among sellers, limit monopolies and give consumers options. There are two main provisions which help make up the heart of the Sherman Act. The first provision outlaws all combinations that restrain trade between states or with foreign nations. Not only did the disallowing apply to formal cartels, but also to any agreement to share markets, fix prices, exclude competition or limit industrial output. The second provision makes illegal all attempts to monopolize any part of commerce or trade in the United States. There were many problems with the Sherman Antitrust Act after its passing in 1890, including how it was only effective against trade unions, which were held by the courts to be illegal combinations. Another problem with the Sherman AntiTrust Act is that it was invoked only rarely against industrial monopolies, and then not successfully, chiefly because of the narrow judicial interpretations of what constitutes trade or commerce among states. A final problem with this act is that the first vigorous enforcement of the Sherman Act occurred during the administration of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt from 1901-09, so that means that the first time it was actually used happened eleven years after it was officially passed. While there are many cons with the Sherman AntiTrust Act there are also many pros as well. One of the many pros of this act is that it provides competition among sellers which results in consumers getting higher-quality products and services for lower prices because since there are more companies making/producing the same goods for consumers, it results in the companies dropping the prices in order to appeal to them. Another pro of this act is that it gives people the ability to come up with ideas for greater inventions as well as more choices when it comes to goods/products. A final pro of the Sherman Act is that it helps people who  want to start their own business in a certain industry where they are able to sell certain products/goods and services and be able to make a living off it without worrying about other companies controlling the market. In 1914, congress passed two legislative measures that provided support for the Sherman AntiTrust Act. The legislative measure was the Clayton AntiTrust Act which expanded on the general provisions of the Sherman Act and specified many illegal practices that either contributed to or resulted from monopolization. The other legislative measure was the Federal Trade Commission which provided the government with an agency that had the power to investigate possible violations of antitrust legislation and issue orders forbidding unfair competition practices. Then in 1920, the U.S. supreme court applied the “rule of reason” interpretation to the Sherman AntiTrust Act, which specifies that not every contract or combination restraining trade is unlawful. Overall, this act affects our society in a big way because if it were not for it then we would have to be paying a lot more for certain key products/goods in our society due to there being not as much competition among companies.