What does antitrust law aim to prevent?

Antitrust law aims to prevent business practices that reduce competition, which is essential for a healthy economy. The primary goal of these laws is to promote fair competition, ensuring that no single entity can dominate a market to the extent that it harms consumers or stifles innovation. By prohibiting monopolistic practices, anti-competitive mergers, and unlawful restraint of trade, antitrust law helps maintain a marketplace where businesses can compete fairly, ultimately benefiting consumers with lower prices, better quality products, and more choices.

In contrast, the other choices do not align with the fundamental objectives of antitrust law. For example, unregulated financial markets and stock market fluctuations, while they can present issues of their own, are not directly addressed by antitrust laws, which focus specifically on competition in the marketplace. Price competition, on the other hand, is often a desired outcome of antitrust interventions, as decreased competition typically leads to higher prices, while healthy competition drives prices down.