In the Capitalist era, the number of corporations and organizations selling numerous goods and services has risen enormously. People have access to all the kinds of items they wish and the ability to pay for the work to be done for them, such as house cleaning or babysitting. Despite all the positive effects that the accessibility and abundance of the market brings, there are also opposing sides. Some companies neglect ethical and moral policies while producing and selling their goods and use doubtful methods to reach higher profitability. They manipulate consumers by price-fixing, dishonest competition, false promises about the products, and hidden traps that may lead the customers to debt to the company. However, the government took measures and developed statutes that protect consumers against fraud and advocate for their rights. This essay covers topics such as consumer advocacy, antitrust laws, and debtor-creditor relations. It aims to describe the policies and identify how they contribute to the regulations of fair trade and competition, securing buyers’ interests.
Consumer protection is necessary to advocate for the buyers’ rights and control the unethical marketing and selling methods that the corporations may imply into their practices. Nowadays, due to the massive number of online stores and financial transactions, fraud cases have drastically increased (Consumer Protection Laws, 2021). Therefore, consumer protection ensures that all the people’s private information is secured, and organizations do not perform any schemes. The Federal Trade Commission Act is one of the most significant regulations created by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (Consumer Rights Law, 2021). FTC works to provide the buyers with defense and help them get access to fair deals and avoid the schemes from the corporations.
In addition, each state managed to establish its specific laws to monitor the activities of the companies and detect illegal methods of promoting and selling goods. Sellers usually give the customers warranties that their products are high quality and will serve properly. Sometimes the warranty can be informal, for example from the shop assistant in the furniture store or it can be said in the advertisement of the goods. Since this type of promise is rather theoretical, the applicable warranty should be clearly stated in the instruction or description of the products. If it states that the item may have to serve for three years regarding the correct exploitation, then the consumer should have compensation in case of the inconsistency of the description and reality.
The Federal Government has created antitrust laws to protect the consumer’s rights. Companies and corporations regularly engage in various schemes and collusion to increase profit or gain a larger market share. Consequently, they might start selling overpriced products, divide the territory between the strongest companies to reduce the competition, or unite to dominate the market. As a response to that actions that contribute to the appearance of the unfair and inequitable conditions in the market, the Federal Government has developed several antitrust laws. Each state has its additional regulations, but three primary antitrust laws aim to protect the customer’s rights: The Sherman Antitrust Act, The Clayton Act, The Federal Trade Commission Act.
The Sherman Antitrust Act prevents companies from participating in violation of transparent and honest competitiveness. The most widespread way of attaining dominance over the market is the mutual agreement to cooperate and, through manipulation, gain power. For instance, the brand might insist that the producer sells goods only to them and no other, or two firms with similar productions can set resembling prices and many other options (Antitrust Laws and You, 2021). In turn, The Sherman Antitrust Act detects such machinations and punishes the companies according to their scale and the amount of damage that they caused for consumers and the specific market field. Sometimes such occasions can be easily detected when corporations achieve monopoly due to the price, mutual alliance, and bid manipulation instead of the quality goods. Therefore, if the competition is honest, there is no reason for the government to penalize the companies.
The Clayton Act is a narrower measure of controlling the firms’ actions. It analyses and determines the possible or existing alliances from the perspective of fair rivalry. When a company merges the other with the same product, it creates an unjust advantage and increases its market share, which is illegal (Antitrust Laws and You, 2021). Thus, acquisitions made to get the leading positions in the market by expanding the company’s size are restricted by the law.
The Federal Trade Commission Act also works to protect the interests of consumers and eliminate any manifestation of unfair competition. It has one peculiarity, which signifies that the company might also violate the Sherman Antitrust Act and break the Federal Trade Commission Act (Antitrust Laws and You, 2021). Altogether those three antitrust laws regulate the clear competitiveness on the market between the organizations and advocate for the consumers’ rights in the first place.
Sometimes entrepreneurs and the owners of small businesses that have been suppressed by the unfair competition can struggle with the payment for the loan they got from the bank to start a business. Similarly, the individuals who do not know about some financial and economic aspects cab accidentally get into debt and be unable to pay in time. Also, sudden expenses and emergencies may appear that will complicate the amortization. Thus, it is crucial to know and understand several laws about the credits. The relationship between the creditor and the debtor implies the performance of certain liabilities from both sides. There are many occasions where the person or the organization can be presented in one of the roles. A human buys a car on credit, borrows money from the bank, or takes a college loan considered a debtor. The bank or someone who provides the debtor with the required resource is called the creditor.
If the debtor does not manage to pay in time, the creditor can be obliged to take their belongings such as assets, house, or anything that presents some material value. The obligor may be penalized by going to court and getting imprisoned in specific cases. Thus, the relations between the creditor and the debtor can be willing or otherwise not (FindLaw’s Team, 2020). When people actively use their credit cards to pay for goods or get a loan from the bank, they voluntarily create debts. If the employee gets trauma in the workplace, or some incident happens, the company, predominantly its owner, who takes all the responsibility, receives the debt. Those kinds of debts are determined by the law, and the side involved in the involuntary debt has to make the financial compensation. When the debtor cannot pay the creditor, sometimes the only way is to apply for bankruptcy.
This can happen for many reasons, including unexpected healthcare bills that the insurance cannot cover and sudden unemployment. Primarily this is a challenging process for business owners who take responsibility for their business and employees and want to keep it working. For those entrepreneurs who strive to maintain their company or regular individuals that want to keep their houses, there are several options with the help of different Chapters’ bankruptcy. Chapter 13, for instance, allows the debtor to develop a strategic plan for debt repayment (Nelson, 2021). The person should have a stable income that guarantees the ability to cover all the expenses and, in a matter of time, pay fully or at least partially some of the old liabilities (Bankruptcy Brief: The Creditor/Debtor Relationship, 2020). The strategy might be developed for a period of three or five years, depending on the amount of debt and the monthly income.
In conclusion, the laws developed by the government to ensure the protection of the consumers and fair competition in the market can successfully manage the issues. Consumer security is the initial set of statutes that confirms the possible threats that may appear in the process of buying and selling. Federal Trade Commission has created antitrust laws that allow controlling the actions and activities of the companies, preventing them from unfair dominance on the market, price-fixing, or a merger. It detects the schemes organizations use to unethically earn more profit and eliminate the competitors by the illegal actions, but not because of the high-quality or unique production. In case of unexpected expenses or inability to pay the debt in time, specific regulations on the creditor-debtor relationships help solve the issues. Therefore, the Federal Government has managed to establish statutes that protect the consumers’ rights and ensure fair trade and competition on the market.
References
Antitrust Laws and You. The United States Department of Justice. Web.
FindLaw’s Team. (2020). What Is Antitrust Law and Trade Regulation? FindLaw. Web.
Nelson, N. (2021). Understanding the debtor-creditor relationship. Wolters Kluwer. Web.
Bankruptcy Brief: The Creditor/Debtor Relationship. (2020) Weltman. Web.
Consumer Protection Laws. Legal Information Institute. Web.
Consumer Rights Law. Justia. Web.