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New There are no laws on oligopolies
The threshold of 5 firms holding 80% of the market - which IIRC is the usual definition of oligopolies - is not part of the Sherman Antitrust Acts. Only monopolies, which I think kicks in where a single firm holds 80% market share, is the only time the government steps in - and there's been only a handful of these cases - the breaking up of Standard Oil into the Seven Sisters is the only case of substance.

I'd agree that government has a place in preventing excessive market concentration by a small number of firms (both Monopoly & Oligopoly), but using that to justify the intrusiveness of government in business is a bit disingenious. Government not only does not regulate the market share of these companies, but nine times out of ten, government policy has the effect of entrenching these big interests even further.
New If I recall correctly . .
. . judgement of monopoly status doesn't depend on having a specific percentage of the market, but on the degree of control the company has over the market. The percentage of market can be much lower if the company substantially controls what its competitors can do.
[link|http://www.aaxnet.com|AAx]
New Sounds about right
But it still relies on a single company being in control.
New Cartels
An oligopoly can be construed as a cartel, which would be a violation of Sherman if it is deemed that the companies have organized and agreed not to compete. Price fixing, market sharing and other types of anticompetetive behavior are covered by these sections of antitrust law.

This section of the law was used in the early 90's against the airlines.

If you push something hard enough, it will fall over. Fudd's First Law of Opposition

It goes in, it must come out.Teslacle's Deviant to Fudd's Law

[link|mailto:bepatient@aol.com|BePatient]

     Is Marx coming to pass? - (deSitter) - (16)
         possibly - (JayMehaffey) - (3)
             My remarks aside, why it may not come. - (mmoffitt) - (2)
                 Not quite - (drewk) - (1)
                     Proletariat != middle class. - (mmoffitt)
         You heard it here first. - (mmoffitt) - (10)
             Vindicated in what sense? - (ChrisR) - (9)
                 Me @ 20, Both. Me now, perhaps only the former. - (mmoffitt) - (8)
                     Agree wrt marketing pressures - (tuberculosis)
                     In the End, Communism and Capitalism end up Same Results - (gdaustin)
                     The Gods must be Crazy... - (gdaustin) - (5)
                         There are no laws on oligopolies - (ChrisR) - (3)
                             If I recall correctly . . - (Andrew Grygus) - (2)
                                 Sounds about right - (ChrisR) - (1)
                                     Cartels - (bepatient)
                         [Something] must be Crazy... (new thread) - (Ashton)
         More like a fusion of Capitalism and Socialism - (orion)

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