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Monopolies in America : Empire Builders and Their Enemies from Jay Gould to Bill Gates
In 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.
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.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 10, 2017
In a hard moment this past month involving my dad's employers, I decided to fish out a book detailing the effects of corporate greed in America. OK, I got over it, but still.
Monopoly. Everyone knows the boardgame that you only play when the power goes out (did you know that railroad and utility companies were the dominant monopolies of the day when the game was first made?). We don't seem that concerned about it these days with names like Facebook, Google, Amazon, Walmart. When I was working as an intern for a pharmaceutical company, it went through 4 name changes due to corporate mergers. What happened to the trustbusters in the days of Roosevelt?
This book does a lot to detail the history of monopolies and their trustbuster enemies. Starting from the days of the railroads to today's large technology companies, it covers everything in between-- including the effects of the New Deal and Reagan's quest of deregulation. I got a general idea of the two sides of the coin. Big-ness means higher efficiency, and those savings can theoretically be passed on to the consumer. But bigness also means power, and that power can be mis-used.
I was disgusted at the pattern of trusts, holding companies, mergers, and conglomerates throughout history. To me, this sounded like trying to make money out of thin air, not actually making a new product. Greed at its worst. There are companies out there that were started just to buy and sell other companies for profit.
You'll acquaint yourself with many big names, like some of the earliest monopolists in the days when companies were personality-driven: Carnegie, Rockefeller, Gould, and Vanderbilt. Railroads, oil, steel, and utility companies were some of the earliest monopolies.
You'll see the interaction of business and government interact, and how it changes from administration to administration. Republicans tend to favor big business, although there was a slew of antitrust legislation during the Nixon era.
You'll see the pattern of government trying to curb some of the excesses of business, and business finding new loopholes in every decade.
I liked the summary at the end of the book:
"Monopoly is the logical outcome of free market economic organization. Antitrust claims to be the antidote if that power overextends itself and ceases to provide benefits. But the medicine has always been political, with doses of economics applied only within the last twenty-odd years. The history of monopoly in the United States... still relies upon a watchful government to keep bug business in check. The American civil religion, with its inherent distaste of arbitrary bigness, still drives antitrust policy, despite all of the applications of antitrust laws and economics. Despite its successes and failures, applications of the antitrust laws are still very suceptible to prevailing political trends. The ghosts of Hamilton and Jefferson still hover over antitrust debate today, much as they did in the past."
A good read!
Monopoly. Everyone knows the boardgame that you only play when the power goes out (did you know that railroad and utility companies were the dominant monopolies of the day when the game was first made?). We don't seem that concerned about it these days with names like Facebook, Google, Amazon, Walmart. When I was working as an intern for a pharmaceutical company, it went through 4 name changes due to corporate mergers. What happened to the trustbusters in the days of Roosevelt?
This book does a lot to detail the history of monopolies and their trustbuster enemies. Starting from the days of the railroads to today's large technology companies, it covers everything in between-- including the effects of the New Deal and Reagan's quest of deregulation. I got a general idea of the two sides of the coin. Big-ness means higher efficiency, and those savings can theoretically be passed on to the consumer. But bigness also means power, and that power can be mis-used.
I was disgusted at the pattern of trusts, holding companies, mergers, and conglomerates throughout history. To me, this sounded like trying to make money out of thin air, not actually making a new product. Greed at its worst. There are companies out there that were started just to buy and sell other companies for profit.
You'll acquaint yourself with many big names, like some of the earliest monopolists in the days when companies were personality-driven: Carnegie, Rockefeller, Gould, and Vanderbilt. Railroads, oil, steel, and utility companies were some of the earliest monopolies.
You'll see the interaction of business and government interact, and how it changes from administration to administration. Republicans tend to favor big business, although there was a slew of antitrust legislation during the Nixon era.
You'll see the pattern of government trying to curb some of the excesses of business, and business finding new loopholes in every decade.
I liked the summary at the end of the book:
"Monopoly is the logical outcome of free market economic organization. Antitrust claims to be the antidote if that power overextends itself and ceases to provide benefits. But the medicine has always been political, with doses of economics applied only within the last twenty-odd years. The history of monopoly in the United States... still relies upon a watchful government to keep bug business in check. The American civil religion, with its inherent distaste of arbitrary bigness, still drives antitrust policy, despite all of the applications of antitrust laws and economics. Despite its successes and failures, applications of the antitrust laws are still very suceptible to prevailing political trends. The ghosts of Hamilton and Jefferson still hover over antitrust debate today, much as they did in the past."
A good read!
September 24, 2015
Very interesting!
Geisst tells the stories of Rockefeller, Duke, Carnegie, JP Morgan, and, of course, later on, Gates.
John D. Rockefeller founded the Standard Oil Company and became a monopoly because Rockefeller shrewdly bought up all the refineries and pipelines - at one point he owned or controlled 90%+ of refineries and 90%+ of pipelines. In essence, this was the first really successful roll-up.
J.B. Duke had a similar path to market power in tobacco through American Tobacco Company, in which he merged with the other major manufacturers and then bought over 200 (!!!) rival firms.
US Steel was the third monopoly of its day, which I'll assign near-monopoly status. JP Morgan bought Andrew Carnegie's steel company and merged it in to US Steel, which controlled about 70% of the steel market, and eventually fought off the US government with its Sherman Act action. However, smaller, more nimble steel companies were able to gain market share in steel, over time.
Geisst goes in to the full background on each of these monopolists and more - fascinating history!
Geisst tells the stories of Rockefeller, Duke, Carnegie, JP Morgan, and, of course, later on, Gates.
John D. Rockefeller founded the Standard Oil Company and became a monopoly because Rockefeller shrewdly bought up all the refineries and pipelines - at one point he owned or controlled 90%+ of refineries and 90%+ of pipelines. In essence, this was the first really successful roll-up.
J.B. Duke had a similar path to market power in tobacco through American Tobacco Company, in which he merged with the other major manufacturers and then bought over 200 (!!!) rival firms.
US Steel was the third monopoly of its day, which I'll assign near-monopoly status. JP Morgan bought Andrew Carnegie's steel company and merged it in to US Steel, which controlled about 70% of the steel market, and eventually fought off the US government with its Sherman Act action. However, smaller, more nimble steel companies were able to gain market share in steel, over time.
Geisst goes in to the full background on each of these monopolists and more - fascinating history!
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June 11, 2016Really good history of monopolies, got a little repetitive during the end but I suppose the history of monopolies is repetitive.
November 11, 2014
Geisst knows his stuff. Plenty of insightful extras that help with research.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews