EGT-1 Task 3 Revised A. Summarize the four major pieces of legislation collectively known as the Antitrust laws. United States antitrust law is a collection of federal and state government laws, which regulates the conduct and organization of business corporations, generally to promote fair competition for the benefit of consumers. The four major pieces of legislation known as the Antitrust Laws include: The Sherman Act, The Clayton Antitrust Act, The Federal Trade Commission, and the Celler-Kefauver Act. The Sherman Act was created in 1890 had two major provisions which was to prohibit conspiracies to restrain trade and also to outlaw monopolization. In 1914 the Clayton Act was passed to expand off of the Sherman Act. The Clayton …show more content…
Since monopolies have no competition they have complete control over pricing and production. (McConnell 195) C. Explain the major functions of the three primary federal and state regulatory commissions that govern industrial regulation. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or FERC (1930) is an independent agency that regulates the interstate transmission of natural gas, electricity, oil pipelines, and water-powered sites. FERC also reviews proposals to build liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals and interstate natural gas pipelines as well as licensing hydro power projects.(2) The Federal Communication Commission or FCC (1934) regulates interstate and international communications by telephones, televisions, cable televisions, radios, telegraph, CB radios, and satellite in over 50 states. The FCC is directed by five commissioners who are appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the U.S Senate.(3) The State Public Utility Commissions is represented by NARUC which is responsible for utility services (electricity, gas telephones) in different states.(4) The reasoning behind the three is to control pricing so the public can benefit from the economies of scale that occur with monopolies and do so in a way that provides a fair return for those producers. Specifically, this intent is covered in the public interest theory of regulation which protects consumers from unfair
There are so many reasons why price wars can happen in an oligopoly market structure. Some of the reasons are due to
The Federal Trade Commission, established September 26, 1914, has two key functions which include protecting consumers and promoting competition. (ftc.gov, Retrieved March 22, 2014). Consumer protections include opposing illegal, and unjust business practices within the American economy. The agency investigates, litigates and legislates to promote fair and sound business standards. Promotion of competition is accomplished by the enforcement of anti-trust laws, which results in lower prices, higher quality and free movement of goods. (ftc.gov, Retrieved March 22, 2014)
For the last 100 years a single federal agency has stood to protect the american consumers. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was established as an administrative government agency that was created by congress to enforce the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTCA). The FTCA gives authorities the power to prohibit unfair methods of competition as a means to protect consumers. The Commission’s mission is dual objective, protect consumers and promote competition. Therefore, we will explore the history of the FTC and how the FTCA has been its foundation. Next, we will look at Section 5 of the FTCA and how it protects consumers.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is debated legislation to define limits for internet service providers (ISPs). And they keep the internet open and prevent companies from discriminating against different kinds of websites and services.
Regulatory laws usually affect the operations of business in some specific situations within a given setting. Despite the fact that a good number of business laws happen to be regulatory in nature, there are different legislation classes that tend to apply to some specific industries compared to others (Hurst, 2004). Some of these laws include the building and environmental laws that are always set forth by both the state and federal governments. Additionally, there are also regulatory laws that apply to international trade as well as different sets of business licensing processes (Vogel,
Monopolies are always known to hold a limited amount of control over its particular market and that gives them the dominant ability to control the prices for its goods or services, or in other words, they represent the market. They indeed have detrimental effects on consumer and social welfare, which is why most do not agree with them. This paper is an attempt to address the various points of monopolies in a society of competition.
Among other things, effective monopolies are characterized by relatively high price levels, by extensive price discrimination, and by rates of return on investment exceeding those attainable if the firm operated in a competitive market structure. Thus, the producer-protection hypothesis implies that following the implementation of regulation over natural monopolies, the price level will be essentially unchanged and will be above marginal costs, price discrimination will continue to be widely practiced, and rates of return will remain above those which would exist under competition.
The three main regulatory commissions of industrial regulation include the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, and the State Public Utility Commissions. Each regulatory commission regulates a particular area. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission regulates the interstate transmission of natural gas, oil, and electricity. This is accomplished by setting the rates/charges of the interstate transmission and sale. (Federal Register) The Federal Communications Commission regulates interstate and foreign communications through different types of media including internet, telephone, radio, and satellite. This commission governs this area through “assigning frequency, power, and call sign for radio” as well as the regulation of areas of media that may be “deemed indecent or illegal”. (Encyclopedia of Business) Finally, the State Public Utility Commission regulates public utility services. Although individual states have their own State Public Utility Commissions their ultimate goals are to ensure that customers receive reliable and reasonably priced
Some feel that the Federal Commerce Commission has disregarded critical facts, its own rules and legal standards to help one giant cable monopoly expand over the cable television and broadband Internet markets. Others state that instead of using it's merger authority to protect the public against an expanding monopoly the commission has allowed AT&T to extend the reach of it's cable and broadband internet service monopolies and extend the time in which it can abuse consumers and harm potential competitors. The Federal Commerce Commission emphasized that it will scrutinize broadband developments closely and will review it's policies if competition fails to grow as expected, especially if the merged firm fails o fulfill it's commitment to open it's cable systems or otherwise threatens the openness of diversity of the internet.
monopolies normally maintain their position of dominance in a market because it is too costly or difficult for potential rivals to enter the market.the three major barriers to entry this market are legal restrictions, economies of scale and control of an essential resource.
In response to the growth of monopolies that threatened to destroy competition in the marketplace Congress passed the Sherman
What does the FCC have to do with it? The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) is a government agency created to regulate interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable. Most recently in 2015, a
In 1914, the Federal Trade Commission Act was passed, creating a federal agency that aims to protect consumers against deceptive and false advertising, as well as increasing informed customer choice (Tedford & Herbeck, 2013). The FTC conducts investigations, creates policies and rules, sues companies and people that violate these laws, as well as educates consumers and business about their rights (Tedford & Herbeck, 2013).
The legislation process of Anti-Monopoly Law has been indeed a long journey. The new AML is a tremendous leap forward for China, bringing China into the modern world of antitrust and competition law. The law, which aims to prevent dominance of any one company, was first proposed in 1994. But its pace was slow until 6 years later because of pressure from big state-owned companies and multinationals that had just started doing business in China. It wasn't until 2001, when China joined the World Trade Organization, did the process accelerate. In August 2007, the law was finally passed by the National People's Congress. Although the measure compromised with state-owned enterprises, which dominate industry, people tend to believe
Monopolists derive their demand curve from the average revenue which is the price they receive per unit. To choose a profit maximizing output level monopolists use marginal revenue which is the change in revenue per unit increase. Since monopolists are the only seller in the market they are not affected by a supply a curve but by their marginal costs. Monopolists maximize their profits by equating their marginal revenue to their marginal costs. The golden rule for pricing for a monopolist is to ensure the price is higher than the marginal costs, but by an amount that is inversely related to demand so as to offset the traditional rules. This golden rule helps in understanding why monopolies occur in certain sectors which are very inelastic. The next section will provide a brief overview of the Standard Oil Monopoly.