ABSTRACT
In a 1952 memorandum from the State Department to Justice, the purported relationship between national security concerns and antitrust policy is clear. Historically, antitrust has failed to stem asset concentration in many industries, with the result that prices are often relatively free from the discipline of competitive forces. The future structure and operation of the American economy will be heavily influenced by the direction and tenor of antitrust policy. The effects of classical antitrust violations such as price fixing have been relatively easy to demonstrate, and the economic costs in terms of price inflation have often been shown to be high indeed. In terms of the general types of federal sanctions imposed, civil and administrative orders to come into compliance were issued, most of them of the cease and desist variety. The impact of politics on antitrust takes a number of forms, ranging from specific attempts to influence enforcement outcomes to the more diffuse effects of shifting political climates.
