Busting the Trusts 1911 The Statut
Busting the Trusts 1911 The Statut
There was a major surge of industrialisation across the United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The growth of “big business” was one of the era’s outcomes. Large firms arose in specific industries. By arranging themselves into monopolies, several of these firms were able to reduce or even eliminate competition. A trust was a technique of combining opposing businesses to organize a firm.
Trusts, according to progressive reformers, were harmful for the economy and for consumers. Trusts could charge any price they wanted since there was no competition. The pricing of things was set by corporate greed rather than market desires. Progressives pushed for legislation to dismantle these trusts, a practice known as “trust busting.”
The Sherman Anti-Trust Act, passed in 1890, was one example of national trust busting. This statute might be used by the federal government to take after firms whose economic interests transcended state boundaries. The Sherman Anti-Trust Act was used by Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft to control or break up a number of American firms, notably Standard Oil.
Ohio enacted antitrust legislation on its own. The Valentine Anti-Trust Act was approved by the state assembly in 1898. Despite the fact that this law was a step toward regulating large enterprise, it proved to be impossible to implement. The majority of significant firms have operations in many states. Antitrust laws were required in each state to combat these firms’ monopolistic inclinations. In the long run, combating trusts at the federal level proved more successful.
SEE ALSO:
The Sherman Antitrust Act (1890);
The Clayton Antitrust Act (1914);
The Microsoft Monopoly (2000).
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