Monopolies in America: Empire Builders and Their Enemies from Jay Gould to Bill GatesIn this incisive and comprehensive history, business historian Charles Geisst traces the rise of monopolies from the railroad era to today's computer software empires. The history of monopolies has been dominated by strong and charismatic personalities. Geisst tells the stories behind the individuals--from John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie to Harold Geneen and Bill Gates--who forged these business empires with genius, luck, and an often ruthless disregard for fair competition. He also analyzes the viewpoints of their equally colorful critics, from Louis Brandeis to Ralph Nader. These figures enliven the narrative, offering insight into how large businesses accumulate power. Viewed as either godsends or pariahs, monopolies have sparked endless debate and often conflicting responses from Washington. Monopolies in America surveys the important pieces of legislation and judicial rulings that have emerged since the post-Civil War era, and proposes that American antitrust activity has had less to do with hard economics than with political opinion. What was considered a monopoly in 1911 when Standard Oil and American Tobacco were broken up was not applied again when the Supreme Court refused to dismantle U.S. Steel in 1919. Charting the growth of big business in the United States, Geisst reaches the startling conclusion that the mega-mergers that have dominated Wall Street headlines for the past fifteen years are not simply a trend, but a natural consequence of American capitalism. Intelligent and informative, Monopolies in America skillfully chronicles the course of American big business, and allows us to see how the debate on monopolies will be shaped in the twentieth-first century. |
Contents
1 | |
1 The Monopolist Menace 18601890 | 11 |
2 Good and Bad Trusts 18901920 | 47 |
3 Looking the Other Way 19201930 | 92 |
4 Collapsing Empires 19301940 | 126 |
5 Concentrating on Fascism 19401953 | 167 |
6 Déjà Vu 19541969 | 203 |
7 Bearing Down 19701982 | 247 |
8 Goodbye Antitrust 19831999 | 282 |
Notes | 321 |
333 | |
341 | |
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Monopolies in America: Empire Builders and Their Enemies from Jay Gould to ... Charles R. Geisst No preview available - 2000 |
Common terms and phrases
acquisitions Adams administration Alcoa American Andrew Carnegie antimonopoly Antitrust Division antitrust laws AT&T banks battle became become began big business bonds Brandeis capital century charged Chicago claimed Clayton Act company’s competition competitors conglomerate conglomerateurs Congress consolidation corporate country’s created critics Deal decade decision dominated early economic Electric federal Geneen Glass-Steagall Act greenmail helped holding companies idea industrialists industry Insull interest investment bankers investors issue J. P. Morgan Jay Gould Justice Department largest later legislation Louis Brandeis major manufacturing ment merger million monopolists monopoly Muscle Shoals operating pany percent political president price leadership problems production profits proposed proved quickly railroads rates regulators Republican result Rockefeller Roosevelt Samuel Insull securities selling Senate share Sherman Act Standard Oil stock market suit Supreme Court takeover tion took trust trustbusters U.S. Steel United utilities Vanderbilt Wall Street World York