Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. – Matthew 10:34
The Supreme Court released its decision in the case of Standard Oil v. United States on this date in 1911, which declared Standard Oil to be an “unreasonable” monopoly. The court determined that Standard Oil had taken actions that were abusive and anticompetitive in order to gain nearly 20 percent of all refined oil output in the U.S. Standard Oil was broken up into 43 separate companies as a result of this decision, though today many have recombined into modern companies such as ExxonMobil, Chevron, and BP. The decision was a major moment for U.S. Antitrust law, as it allowed Congress to put restrictions in place to ensure the free market did not result in anticompetitive environments. Today, Congress is utilizing that power as it addresses social media and traditional media companies. Pray that God would guide federal legislators to the best decisions for a healthy market economy.
As the Lord leads, pray with us…
- For members of the federal and state legislatures as they consider regulations and limitations of large and powerful companies.
- For the justices of the Supreme Court as they weight federal regulations against the Constitution in their decisions.
