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Sweeney, Bonny E. --- "Defining Antitrust Violations in the US" [2010] ELECD 744; in Foer, A. Albert; Cuneo, W. Jonathan (eds), "The International Handbook on Private Enforcement of Competition Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2010)

Book Title: The International Handbook on Private Enforcement of Competition Law

Editor(s): Foer, A. Albert; Cuneo, W. Jonathan

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781848448773

Section: Chapter 4

Section Title: Defining Antitrust Violations in the US

Author(s): Sweeney, Bonny E.

Number of pages: 27

Extract:

4 Defining antitrust violations in the US
Bonny E. Sweeney1


Introduction
Federal and state governments and private parties have been actively enforcing competi-
tion laws in the United States since the passage of the Sherman Act in 1890. In addition
to the Sherman, Clayton and Federal Trade Commission Acts, which are the principal
federal statutes regulating competition, there are numerous additional federal laws and
a multitude of competition laws from every state and the District of Columbia. While
the welter of federal statutes, state statutes and judge-made law can be confusing and
at times contradictory, there are broad common themes that run through all of these
sources of law. First, while there is disagreement about what the primary goal of compe-
tition law ought to be,2 federal and state courts generally agree that these statutes should
be interpreted in a manner that `will yield the best allocation of our economic resources,
the lowest prices, the highest quality and the greatest material progress . . . .'3 For this
reason, modern competition law in the United States is concerned with the protection of
competition, not competitors (with a few notable exceptions).4
A second defining characteristic of United States competition law is the importance
of the private plaintiff. Unlike in many other jurisdictions, private parties can sue for
redress of antitrust violations. In fact, most antitrust cases in the United States are liti-
gated solely by private parties. While there are many instances of private litigation fol-
lowing government prosecutions or investigations, ...