Search for Effective Public Policy.

In 1890, when the United States was poised to take action against the everincreasing numbers of business trusts and the abusive business practices that often characterized large concentrations of capital, the nation was faced with the task of choosing between two quite different approaches to the problem. Americans could either accept the continuing formation of trusts as a natural outgrowth of modern industry and technological advance and take action solely for the purpose of regulating their activities, or they could pursue a policy calling for the dissolution of all monopolies in the interest of restoring and preserving a competitive market system. With the passage in 1890 of the Sherman Antitrust Act, which prohibited combinations and conspiracies in restraint of trade and outlawed monopolies, the nation appeared to have chosen the latter of the two alternatives.

Busting Trusts.

The government...