ABSTRACT
In America the unenforceability of "mere" gentlemen's agreements has certainly favoured the amalgamation form of monopoly. It is certainly true that the legal status has something to do with the forms of monopoly and consequently with the practical strength of it. The law may certainly affect the position of quasi-monopoly in many ways. An anti-monopolist attitude of the law—such as in the USA the strong upholding of the theory that combination is in "restraint of trade" and therefore illegal or even punishable—may react very markedly on the forms of monopoly. In regard to the legal side of the forms of the quasi-monopoly England might be said to stand between the USA, with their strict upholding of antimonopoly legal doctrines, and Germany, which has never regarded any monopolist associations as being of themselves illegal or actionable. There can be no doubt that American legislation has prevented the formation of anything like monopolist agreements.
