Businesses often lobby government officials in order for favourable policies to be implemented, typically to help them become more profitable.
In the U.S., two of the largest airliners: American Airlines and U.S. Airways have planned a merger to combine their companies as one. If the two airline giants end up merging, they will form the largest airline in the world. However, anti-trust laws question the legality of such proposals.
Anti-trust laws are designed to keep the market competitive. They break up businesses that are large enough to hurt the competitiveness of the market, especially those that become monopolistic. The fear of this merger is that the consolidation of the airline industry will result in higher prices and worse service, ultimately hurting consumers.
U.S. Airways and American Airline have launched a PR campaign to support their decision and have controversially petitioned many members of the U.S. congress to support the merger. Many believe that the Justice Department is giving in to the demands of big business.
Milton Friedman famously claimed that “The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase its Profits”, but why should a business deserve to take more from the consumer without providing better service?
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