This Day in Wall Street History 1915: FTC is founded

President Woodrow Wilson's first two years in the Oval Office were marked by a whirlwind of activity: the reform-minded former governor of New Jersey pushed an armload of programs through the legislative chain. One such initiative was the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which, after being devised in 1914, officially began its operations on this day in 1915. Officially charged with curbing corporate actions that blocked competition and the free flow of international trade, the FTC also served to strengthen the ties between business and government. Not only did the agency aid exporters by keeping tabs on tariffs, it also threw its weight behind legislation that would sanction monopolies and trusts in the field of foreign trade. As some historians have noted, the FTC fulfilled Wilson's vision of a global fiscal order led by the United States and facilitated by "open" trade channels. Along with its far-reaching economic impact, the FTC also marked the further consolidation of power in the executive branch of the government, a trend that had been initiated earlier in the century by Theodore Roosevelt.

-Source: www.history.com