Antitrust and regulatory alternatives: how the past points the way to the future.

In 1906 the ICC was given more authority over future railroad rates; in 1920, it was given the power to approve mergers under a "public interest" standard; in 1935 it was given authority to regulate the railroads' major inter-modal competitor, motor carriers. Generation companies needed to be assured non-discriminatory access to the transmission system so that integrated firms could not favour their own generation companies over competitors; customers needed to be able to choose the supplier they wanted. Keywords: Regulation; Federal Trade Commission; Platforms; Big Tech; Antitrust; K21; K23; L41; L43 EN Regulation Federal Trade Commission Platforms Big Tech Antitrust K21 K23 L41 L43 173 178 6 08/11/23 20230701 NES 230701 I. THE PAST Over 2 days in January of 1876 lawyers representing the managers of a grain warehouse in Chicago argued in the US Supreme Court that the Illinois statute under which their clients were convicted violated the US Constitution. "Competition is merely one consideration here", the Court wrote.[17] Over time, however, the ICC, and regulation more generally, would drop out of favour. [Extracted from the article]