Big Government

In the name of “saving” college sports, Congress steps well past its bounds to micromanage the NCAA.

In the name of “saving” college sports, Congress steps well past its bounds to micromanage the NCAA.

By the close of the 1920s, business elites led by Wall Street had secured government enforcement of their cartels across banking, industry, transportation, and health.

Patrick Newman traces the Federal Trade Commission’s cartelizing arc: “advance advice,” uniform cost accounting, a brief Wilson reversal, Harding-Coolidge recapture, and Hoover’s subsidies and patent restrictions.

Patrick Newman shows how the Interstate Commerce Commission supplied the enforcement common law would not, with commissioners reading their mandate in the railroads’ favor and cartelization temporarily strengthened at the shippers’ expense.

A transcontinental railroad was unprofitable on market terms, but attractive once Congress supplied land and subsidies.

As the federal government continues to metastasize, rolling back state power will have to begin with the state governments. Florida is providing some good examples.

As governments grow in size and power, some come to believe that this growth can go on indefinitely. But state power, too, has its limitations.

The drama continues in college sports—not on the field, but in the courtrooms—thanks to judges applying antitrust law that does not permit the NCAA to be able to enforce its own rules.

The drama continues in college sports—not on the field, but in the courtrooms—thanks to judges applying antitrust law that does not permit the NCAA to be able to enforce its own rules.