What does antitrust law prohibit?

Antitrust law prohibits certain kinds of behavior that can be harmful to free market competition. Generally, businesses must follow certain rules when making decisions related to buying, selling, and pricing goods or services in order to ensure fair competition and promote consumer welfare. According to Virginia antitrust law, businesses are prohibited from engaging in anti-competitive activities such as price fixing, bid rigging, collusion, and monopolies. Price fixing is an agreement between businesses to set the same or similar prices for their goods or services. This can be harmful to competition because it eliminates the ability of businesses to compete on price and can reduce consumer choice. Bid rigging occurs when businesses make secret agreements among themselves to manipulate the outcome of a bidding process. This can be dangerous because it reduces competition and can lead to higher prices for consumers. Collusion occurs when businesses agree not to compete in certain markets or to share information. This is illegal because it allows businesses to artificially maintain their prices and reduce consumer choice. Monopolies are single firms with control over an entire market or sector. This can be dangerous because it grants the firm too much information and power over the market and can lead to higher prices and reduced consumer choice. In summary, Virginia Antitrust law prohibits the use of tactics that can lead to anti-competitive behavior such as price fixing, bid rigging, collusion, and monopolies. This helps promote competition and consumer welfare in the marketplace.

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