1. Question You don’t need to write this down
What should the government protect?
What do you think President Trump’s main focus has been?

2. Business and Labor Policy

3. Protecting and promoting Business
A more recent focus of government, dating back a little more than 100 years
Free Trade
Elimination of trade restrictions means lower prices for consumers
Tariffs are used to protect American industries from foreign competitors

4. Protecting and promoting Business
Federal Subsidies
Tax Incentives – businesses can deduct certain expenses from their tax returns
Government Loans – funding for businesses at a low rate
Free Services – i.e. weather reports, census data
Cash Payments – production at a lower cost

5. Protecting and promoting Business
Commerce Department aid to businesses
Provides information, financial assistance, and research and development services
Help for small businesses
Small Business Administration offers many programs to help small businesses stay competitive

6. Regulating Business
Constitutional Basis – “lay and collect taxes” and Commerce Clause
Demand for reform
Up until the late 1800s, the government took a laissez-faire approach to the economy
Rapid industrialization of the economy meant that by the late 1800s, the economy was dominated by large businesses
Americans demanded fairness in the marketplace
In 1887, the Interstate Commerce Act placed the first regulations on the railroads

7. Regulating Business Sherman Antitrust Act 1890
Vaguely limited the formation of monopolies
Enforced in 1906, when the government charged Standard Oil of creating and maintaining a monopoly
Clayton Antitrust Act 1914
Clarified the Sherman Antitrust Act
Prevented charging high prices where there was little or no competition
Prevented people from serving on the boards of competing companies

8. Consumer Protection
Before 1900, many corporations were not overly concerned about the safety and health of their products
Protection against false advertising
Federal Trade Commission protects consumers against misleading or fraudulent advertising
Product Safety
Consumer Product Safety Commission was created in to investigate harmful products

9. Consumer Protection Regulating the sale of stocks
The Securities and Exchange Commission has the trading of stocks and bonds since the Great Depression
All corporations that issue public stock have to file regular reports on their assets, profits, sales, and other financial data

10. Government and Labor Protecting unions and workers
The government’s stance on labor changed in the early 1900s with the Clayton Antitrust Act which had a provision that protected unions
By the end of the 1930s with the New Deal, labor unions and workers gained rights to collectively bargain
The Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 limited certain types of unions, while also legally protecting labor strikes