Case Study: United States v. E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company and General Motors Corporation

Abstract

I shall go into an analysis of the two major economically- based points which came up during the course of the litigation against du Pont. The first is the question of whether the intention of du Pont in their stock acquisition was to "foreclose" a key segment of the market to their competitors or simply to make what has proved to be an excellent investment. The second point is the matter of the definition which the Court was seen to adopt of the so-called "relevant market." In order for any judgment to be made on the possible existence of monopoly power, the Court first had to establish a definition of the type of market under discussion. They formed this definition in terms of "buyer requirements" rather than from the standpoint of economic characteristics of the goods produced.