ABSTRACT
A key factor in any discussion of the propriety and effectiveness of the use of criminal sanctions in enforcing business regulations is the relationship between prevailing morality and the norms of the criminal law. The history of criminal law is in fact a history of the reasons why techniques of criminal law enforcement have been brought to bear in particular areas to advance social goals. One factor dictating the use of criminal sanctions has been unduly ignored in most treatments of crime. Economic policy in its purest form entered the arena not as the primary purpose of the legislation but as an alleviation against its strictness in the face of good faith on the part of the regulated. Some criminal statutes, like the Sherman Antitrust Act, regulate the conduct of businessmen exclusively or almost so. Others, like price-control laws, regulate business transactions and control the conduct of both businessmen and nonbusinessmen such as consumers.
