Monday, 17 March 2014

Antitrust Laws

Antitrust Laws:
Four major pieces of legislation collectively known as antitrust law are:Sherman Act restricts contracts and combination of trade among states.
Clayton Act deals with price discrimination thatprohibits the formation of interlocking directorates that prohibits trying contracts and lastly prohibits the acquisition of stocks of competing corporations. 
The Patman Act deals with price discrimination and made it illegal for an organization to engage in price discrimination.
Federal Trade Commission deals with unfair competitive practices both on the request of the injures organizations as well as on the own bases.(Fier & Liebenberg, 2013)
Economic Regulations in Oligopoly & Monopoly & Its Functions:
Oligopoly: this market structure is different from that of monopoly. In this market there is a limited competition because of small number of buyers and sellers in the market. There are only few large firms are there in this market as the sellers and buyers are less. This market also restricts the entry as there are high barriers to the entry of firms in the market this limits the competition. Oligopolists have choice to produce either homogeneous products or differentiated products (Conditions for an Oligopolistic Market, n.d.). in case of oligopoly industrial revelution will help customers in getting things on fair prices that government regulates.
In case of monopoly there will be a sole owner or we can say single seller. The entry to this market structure is restricted for other firms. And the sole owner is the price leader and can choose any price independent of the market price as the monopolist is a price maker not price taker. So to maintain a balance between the prices of the market and the monopolist is a difficult task and this will be governed by the federal government or economic regulations.So, industrial regulation will help the buyers to get the products on fair prices, which are governed by the government(Fier & Liebenberg, 2013).
Social Regulations:
Social regulation – Social regulation are concern with the protection of the rights and well-being of society as whole. It includes protection of the environment, safety in the workplace, protection of the rights of workers, health, and protection of buyers from the unaccepted behavior of sellers. As society or environment play an important role in any market structure it is important to keep in mind the needs of the society as a whole and these social regulations help in satisfying the needs and wants of the society.
Major Functions of the Five Primary Federal Regulatory Commissions:
·         Federal Nuclear Commission: This regulatory body takes care of the production restriction and usage on nuclear weapons and also frames regulations for nuclear energy and its usage for constructive purposes as well asrestrictions on nuclear weapons.
·         Federal Energy regulation commission: This regulatory body deals with theusage of petroleum, hydro-electricity , oil, and other forms ofenergy used for industrial as well as domesticand other commercial purposes(Madar, 2002).
·         Federal Trade commission: The Federal trade commission forms rules and regulations in relation to the unfair trade practices that take place in the nation which may worse affect the economy of a nation. (Madar, 2002).
·         Federal Accountability act: An Act providing for conflict of interest rules, restrictions on election financing and measures respecting administrative transparency, oversight and accountability.
·         Federal Sustainable Development Act: An Act to require the development and implementation of a Federal Sustainable Development Strategy and the development of goals and targets with respect to sustainable development in Canada, and to make consequential amendments to another Act.(Madar, 2002)
So this way federal plays an important role in the different market structures and as well as in the social or environmental factors. It is very important to have a regulatory body so that an economy as well as a society both can work smoothly keeping in mind the consumer’s welfare and their demand satisfaction.
References:
Fier, S. G., & Liebenberg, A. P. (2013). Market Reaction to Potential Federal Regulation in the Insurance Industry. Journal of Insurance Issues , 1-34.
Madar, D. (2002). Rail Mergers, Trade, and Federal Regulation in the United States and Canada. Federalism and Surface Transportation , 143-159.



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