Does bigness, as such, constitute a violation of the Clayton Antitrust Act? Federal Trade Commission lawyers deny that the FTC has ever argued that it does. Nevertheless, the FTC surely appeared to be nearing such a doctrine in 1962 when it ordered Procter & Gamble to sell off Clorox Chemical Co., which P. & G. had acquired seven years earlier (TIME, Dec. 24). At the time of acquisition, Clorox held 49% of the U.S. market for liquid household bleaches. By buying the biggest bleach maker, the FTC contended, P. & G. avoided the risks of going into the field on its...
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