Bethlehem and Youngstown, two major steel producers, accounted for about 21% of the national steel market in the late 1950s, when they proposed to merge.
a. Should the two steel companies have been allowed to merge? Why or why not?
b. According to the companies, Bethlehem sold most of its output in the East, whereas Youngstown sold most of its output in the Midwest. Was this fact relevant? Why or why not?
c. The district court did not allow Bethlehem and Youngstown to merge. Yet in 1985 (as we saw in problem 1), the Department of Transportation allowed United Airlines (with about 7% of the service between Japan and the U.S. mainland) to acquire Pan Am's Pacific Division (with about 19%). How can you explain this?