Antitrust acts [or laws]

What does Antitrust acts [or laws] mean in American Law?

The definition of Antitrust acts [or laws] in the law of the United States, as defined by the lexicographer Arthur Leff in his legal dictionary is:

Statutes passed to cope with the persistent tendency of businesses to avoid competition in order to appropriate to themselves the lessened stress and greater success that can come to one who successfully garners monopoly profits, either by driving the competition out of business by improper means, or by conspiring and combining with it. The stated urposed of the antitrust acts is to forestall this development, which will raise prices to consumers and unfairly damage business. There is continuous

controversy over what kinds of business practices have these bad effects, and what kinds of laws most cheaply and successfully counter them. The principal Federal antitrust acts are the Clayton Act, the Federal Trade Commission Act, the Robinson-Patman Act, and the Sherman Act.