We might have hoped that governments would treat them as such. Indeed, there was a time when they did. In1936, a federal anti-trust act was passed in the US to protect small shops from the Great Atlantic &Pacific Tea Company.[11] But governments were braver then. In Britain, the Office of Fair Trading and theCompetition Commission seem to spend their time devising new excuses. They continue to insist, for example,that big stores and corner shops are separate markets.[12] Tesco might sell 25% of all Britain's groceries, butit owns "only" 6% of the convenience store market, so it should be allowed to expand in that sectoras it pleases. Last month the OFT admitted that its voluntary code of practice, which is supposed to protectfarmers from the excessive power of the superstores, isn't working. By way of remedy it proposed "moreresearch".[13]