PRIVATE ACTIONS UNDER SECTION 7 OF THE CLAYTON ACT

Any consideration of private actions under Section 7 of the Clay ton Act1 involves two separate, but interdependent, questions: first, whether and to what extent Sections 4 and 16 of the Clayton Act2 in fact provide a private cause of action for treble damages and/or in junctive relief and, second, as a matter of national policy, whether and to what extent such private remedies should be available for violations of Section 7. The magnitude of these questions is self evident, and time permits no more than their cursory examination. Hopefully, some light may be shed by Congressional hearings, such as those currently in progress on economic concentration, and from industry studies, such as the one being undertaken by the Federal Trade Commission in the cement industry. Whatever the outcome of studies such as these, the part to be played by private antitrust actions must be considered and provided for if we are to have a consistent and unified national antitrust policy.