In my Media Law and Literacy class, this week we were assigned groups for a group presentation on a certain subject. Our group’s theme was policy. After breaking off into groups, we all decided what we would research for the presentation. I chose the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890.
The Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890 was the first Federal act passed by Congress that prohibited trusts, outlawed monopolistic business practices, and outlawed any group that restricted trade between states and/or foreign nations. Furthermore, a trust is a group of stockholders come together and share their individual shares to a set of trustees. These stockholders then receive an agreed upon amount of earnings from the trust. Congress viewed these trusts as ruining competition in the economy and wanted to regulate trade.
This affects my generation with the internet and also phone companies. Cases have been brought up against AT&T and Microsoft in the last 20 years. Big companies like Disney and Google, who own almost all of what we see and use on the internet, have most recently been examples of huge monopolies in our society today. Disney alone has a market capitalization of $171.70 billion, making it absolutely impossible for other companies to compete with them.
How much do we need competition for our economy to grow?
Should the government step in when they think these companies are hurting our economy? Do they say nothing when it is helping?
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