Cite as: 504 U. S. 374 (1992)
Stevens, J., dissenting
Thus, although I agree that the plain language of § 105(a) pre-empts any state law that relates directly to rates, routes, or services, the presumption against pre-emption of traditional state regulation counsels that we not interpret § 105(a) to pre-empt every traditional state regulation that might have some indirect connection with, or relationship to, airline rates, routes, or services unless there is some indication that Congress intended that result. To determine whether Congress had such an intent, I believe that a consideration of the history and structure of the ADA is more illuminating than a narrow focus on the words "relating to."
II
The basic economic policy of the Nation is one favoring competitive markets in which individual entrepreneurs are free to make their own decisions concerning price and output. Since 1890 the Sherman Act's prohibition of collusive restrictions on production and pricing have been the central legislative expression of that policy. National Soc. of Professional Engineers v. United States, 435 U. S. 679, 695 (1978). In 1914 Congress sought to promote that policy by enacting the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTCA), which created the Federal Trade Commission and gave it the power to prohibit "[u]nfair methods of competition in commerce." 38 Stat. 719, codified as amended, 15 U. S. C. § 45(a)(1). That type of prohibition is entirely consistent with a free market in which prices and production are not regulated by Government decree.
In 1938 Congress enacted two statutes that are relevant to today's inquiry. In March it broadened § 5 of the FTCA by giving the Commission the power to prohibit "unfair or deceptive acts or practices in commerce" as well as "[u]nfair
v. Western Airlines, Inc., 155 Cal. App. 3d 597, 600, 202 Cal. Rptr. 237, 238 (1984), cert. denied, 469 U. S. 1132 (1985); Note, To Form a More Perfect Union?: Federalism and Informal Interstate Cooperation, 102 Harv. L. Rev. 842, 857 (1989).
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