Sherman Antitrust Act (redirected from Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890)

Sherman Antitrust Act

An 1890 federal antitrust law intended to control or prohibit monopolies by forbidding certain practices that restrain competition. In the early 1900s, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Act applied only to unreasonable restraints of trade and thus could be used only against blatant cases of monopoly.

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Sherman Antitrust Act

The first legislation passed in the United States limiting trusts and monopolies. The Act prohibits agreements and collusion restricting trade, without providing many specifics. The Act was largely unenforced against the organizations it was intended to curtail. Indeed, the Act was invoked early on to restrict organized labor more than any other group. As a result, Congress passed the Clayton Act in 1914 to clarify American antitrust law. The Sherman Act has been criticized by many, notably Ayn Rand and her followers, for unfairly and inefficiently restricting the Invisible Hand of the market.

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Sherman Antitrust Act

One of the antitrust laws designed to encourage competition and discourage monopolies.