It is commonly believed that anti-trust laws are not only compatible with a competitive market economy, but necessary for competition to thrive. For example, the website for the Cornell law school states: “Because of fears during the late 1800s that monopolies dominated America’s free market economy, Congress passed the Sherman Antitrust Act in 1890 to combat anti-competitive practices, reduce market domination by individual corporations, and preserve unfettered competition as the rule of trade.”
Consider the contradiction in this claim. Freedom means an absence of government coercion—the right to act according to one’s own judgment. The above quote tells us that, in order to “protect” freedom, some individuals are to be prohibited—by government coercion—from acting on their judgment. In order to “preserve unfettered competition,” some individuals are to be fettered in their ability to compete. Government regulations and free markets are incompatible. Indeed, they are polar opposites.