Originally states tried to outlaw anticompetitive behavior. The idea was that corporations chartered in one state would not normally hold stock in a corporation in another state. However, this was ineffective, as corporations merely incorporated and expanded into other states. In addition, Samuel Dodd came up with the idea of a trust

Although what AT&T, Microsoft, and Wal-Mart did to form their monopolies was not illegal, some violations within a trust or monopoly are. For example, if two

The foremost problem with antitrust laws is that they are so vague businessmen have no way of knowing whether specific actions will be declared illegal until after the fact. The entire structure of antitrust statutes in this country is also a clutter of economic irrationality. It is the product of unrealistic economic theories that originated in the 1890’s and are still being applied in the 21st century. The very existence of these indefinable statutes and contradictory case law can inhibit businessmen from undertaking what could have been sound productive ventures. However, no one will ever know what new products, processes, machines, and cost-saving monopolies failed to come into existence, killed by the Sherman Act before they were ever born.

Money, greed, and power are the apparent motives behind a corporate merger or takeover, which later leads to a trust or monopoly. “When a company is the target of a hostile corporate takeover, what its customers, employees or even management think doesn’t matter much. Money talks”(Harrison, 14 ). The leaders responsible for a large industrial consolidation seem to have a disregard for the life of the middle to lower level employees. The tantalizing bi-products of trusts and monopolies make them desirable when the opportunity is available to CEO’s and businessmen. If government regulations do not interfere with a newly created trust or monopoly, the financial benefits can be extensive for those who are involved.

One of the most critical problems with antitrust legislation against business consolidation is how it should be applied in the digital age. These applications of the law extend to popular areas of culture including AT&T, Microsoft, and Wal-Ma

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