Items20The creator’s order
  1. 1John ShermanJohn ShermanBorn 10 May 1823Sherman sponsored the legislation that became the United States' 1890 antitrust law, giving federal authorities a basis for challenging restraints of trade and monopolisation. The final statute was a congressional product rather than his text alone. Its broad language left courts and enforcers with…0i
  2. 2Theodore RooseveltTheodore RooseveltBorn 27 Oct 1858Roosevelt's administration brought the Northern Securities case, which culminated in the Supreme Court's 1904 decision against the railroad combination. He also sought the Bureau of Corporations, created in 1903 to investigate corporate activity. These were different tools: litigation could…0i
  3. 3William Howard TaftWilliam Howard TaftBorn 15 Sept 1857Taft's administration continued vigorous antitrust litigation, including its 1911 challenge to US Steel. That case illustrates both the reach and the limits of enforcement: bringing a major lawsuit was an executive choice, while the eventual judgment belonged to the courts and did not deliver the…0i
  4. 4Woodrow WilsonWoodrow WilsonBorn 28 Dec 1856Wilson signed the Federal Trade Commission Act in September 1914 and the Clayton Act the following month. Together they added a specialist commission and more specific statutory rules to the earlier Sherman framework. Congress, reformers and officials shaped the institutional design; presidential…0i
  5. 5Emanuel CellerEmanuel CellerBorn 6 May 1888Celler was the House sponsor behind the 1950 Celler-Kefauver amendment to the Clayton Act. It closed the asset-acquisition loophole that had allowed transactions to escape a provision focused on purchases of shares. The specific institutional lesson is that legal form can defeat an otherwise…0i
  6. 6Estes KefauverEstes KefauverBorn 26 Jul 1903Kefauver helped carry the 1950 anti-merger reform through the Senate alongside Celler's work in the House. The amendment made the effects of acquisitions on competition more important than whether companies transferred shares or assets. His inclusion recognises the legislative coalition needed to…0i
  7. 7Philip HartPhilip HartBorn 10 Dec 1912Hart was a principal Senate sponsor of the 1976 Hart-Scott-Rodino reforms, which required advance notification of qualifying mergers and a waiting period for review. The change addressed a practical weakness: restoring competition after firms had combined could be extremely difficult. His role was…0i
  8. 8Peter W. RodinoPeter W. RodinoBorn 7 Jun 1909Rodino helped steer the 1976 antitrust improvements through the House, arguing for agencies to investigate major mergers before the businesses became difficult to separate. Read him beside Philip Hart to see the work required in both chambers to turn an enforcement proposal into law. The resulting…0i
  9. 9Ludwig ErhardLudwig ErhardBorn 4 Feb 1897Erhard pressed for West Germany's law against restraints of competition, passed in 1957 and effective from 1958 with the new Federal Cartel Office. This made competition protection an institutional part of the social-market project. The enacted law was a compromise with exemptions, falling short of…0i
  10. 10Leon BrittanLeon BrittanBorn 25 Sept 1939Brittan helped secure the European Community's 1989 merger-control regulation after years of negotiation and earlier work by other commissioners. As competition commissioner he then oversaw its use, including the 1991 decision prohibiting the proposed ATR/de Havilland transaction. The important…0i