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The Company Of Free Enterprise And Market Competition

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The foundation of the United States economy is the foundation of free enterprise and market competition. The competitive market allows consumers to benefit from price reductions, increasing quality, and allowing consumers the freedom of choice. These ideas of free enterprise and market competition are so crucial that they are protected by Congressional antitrust laws. As the Supreme Court has explained, “Antitrust laws in general, and the Sherman Act in particular, are the Magna Carta of free enterprise. They are as important to the preservation of economic freedom and our free-enterprise system as the Bill of Rights is to the protection of our fundamental personal freedoms.” (Harris, pg. 197, 2014) The healthcare industry is incredibly …show more content…

(Harris, pg. 214-217, 2014) The question is that can Dr. Stuart state a valid claim against the doctors at General for their denial of her privileges under a three requirements of Section 1 of the Sherman Act? Do the providers at General have a defense against Dr. Stuart’s denial of privileges within the restrictions of Section 1 of the Sherman Act? Furthermore, does Dr. Stuart have a valid claim against the collaboration and coercions of General and Happy within Section 1 of the Sherman Act? Any application of Section 1 antitrust legislation must violate all three claims: proof of conspiracy, restraint of trade, and effect on interstate commerce. The first question poses the question of Dr. Stuart having a claim against General for violating section 1 of the Sherman Act. The Sherman Act is composed of three claims as previously stated. The first claim is the claim of conspiracy. In this claim, Dr. Stuart has no ground against the doctors of General. This is because “officers and employees of the same corporation cannot conspire with each other or with their corporation, similarly two parts of the same organization cannot conspire with each other.” As the decision was made solely by the physicians and administrators of General, they can not conspire with one another and therefore cannot commit conspiracy. (Harris, pg. 200, 2014) The second claim is in regards to the restraint of trade. The type of restraint demonstrated would most closely

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