Blog #29: Clayton Anti-Trust Act

The Clayton Anti-Trust Act started when in the 1912 Presidential Election, all three parties agreed that the Supreme Court had been way too lenient on large corporations and that antitrust laws needed to be strengthened. This Act allowed the government to have more power over large companies. They could now prosecute trusts (no more laissez-faire), outlaw price fixing, terminate the ability for a person to own two or more competing companies, prohibit any corporation from owning stock in a competing company, and exempt labor unions from persecution. All of these guidelines helped even the business "playing field," making companies more honest and fair and decreasing problems within the country.

The Clayton Anti-Trust Act ultimately strengthened legislation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890. It was far more detailed than the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, yet was similar in that its main purpose was to get rid of trusts. Both Acts called for an end to large corporations that unfairly squashed its competition, and stated that penalties would be given for violators of the Act. However, while the Sherman Anti-Trust Act focused on the broader idea that monopolies were not allowed and would be met with punishment, the Clayton Anti-Trust Act stated the specifics such as what specifically companies were not allowed to do (which I mentioned in the above paragraph). Knowing this, I believe the Clayton Anti-Trust Act had a greater impact than the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, because by giving specific rules that corporations could not violate, it was probably more difficult for companies to find ways around the act. For example, with the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, there was little success in helping labor unions because the Act did not specifically address that issue. However, with the Clayton Anti-Trust Act, this issue could be addressed. Overall, the Clayton Anti-Trust Act made the business world a fair place.

The Clayton Anti-Trust Act is similar to the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice, because both help enforce the laws written in the Clayton Anti-Trust Act. Their job was to regulate unfair or deceptive business practices (without involving courts) in order to make the business world a more honest place.

The Clayton Anti-Trust Act destroyed trusts even more thoroughly than the Sherman Anti-Trust Act did. This political cartoon demonstrates the destruction of trusts by the Federal Trade Commission, which enforced the Act.