Money & budgets
antitrust
The law of competition: rules against monopolizing a market, fixing prices, or merging in ways that substantially lessen competition.
In full
The Sherman, Clayton, and FTC Acts are enforced by the Justice Department's Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission, and by private suits. Merger review happens before the deal closes, under a mandatory waiting period. Remedies range from blocking a transaction to a consent decree imposing conditions to, rarely, breaking a company up.
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A plain-language explanation for civic education, not legal advice. When in doubt, the official source named above controls.