11-07-2025
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
Josh Hawley Doesn't Know What a Monopoly Is
Antitrust laws such as the 1890 Sherman Act and the 1914 Clayton Act have a clear purpose, according to the Justice Department: They 'prohibit anticompetitive conduct and mergers that deprive American consumers, taxpayers, and workers of the benefits of competition.'
This means that domination of the market for a particular product or service by one or a handful of firms should be of no particular concern to the government. Only when a business dominates because of anticompetitive practices, or uses its power to prevent competitors from emerging, should the government get involved.
