Home > Articles > Antitrust: Sherman's March Across the Globe
Antitrust: Sherman's March Across the Globe
Crews Op-ed in EU Reporter Online
AddThis Social Bookmark Button Email This Print This

by Clyde Wayne Crews
September 13, 2004

 

Full article available as a pdf.

 

President Bush’s biparti­san Antitrust Moderniza­tion Commission held its first meeting in July. But af­ter 114 years, America’s an­titrust regulatory regime is overdue for burial, not bo­tox. This comes on the heels of Europe’s antitrust regu­lators nailing Microsoft’s success, to the tune of €497 million ($612 million), for a dominance assailed as im­permissible and constitut­ing market abuse.

 

Antitrust regulations were first enacted as a way to prevent monopolization and restraint of trade. But, by elevating government intervention above the market’s competitive discipline, antitrust has allowed disgruntled firms to mount legal attacks against their more successful competitors.  Particularly given today’s global economy is that other governments are now emulating U.S. antitrust regulations to “protect” their own industries.

 

The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 was brought to us by John Sherman, the brother of the Civil War’s General William Tecumseh Sherman. I’ve heard it joked that Sherman’s March across the South did far less economic damage than his brother’s century-plus march through the greater economy. Now John Sherman is marching across the globe.

 


Related Files:

AddThis Social Bookmark Button Email This Print This