| The United States became a rich
industrial nation toward the end of the 1800s. There were more goods, more
services, more jobs, and a higher standard of living. There was more of
everything, including problems. One problem was monopoly — that is, be the only
seller of a certain line of products or a service. In some cases, several
companies that manufactured the same product would agree not to compete with one
another. They would all agree to charge the same price. These arrangements made
it impossible for customers to shop around for lower prices for certain
products. Some people decided that huge corporations had too much power and controlled too many markets. Because of their wealth and power, they could see to it that government passed laws favorable to them. Many people believed that monopoly and price fixing were bad for customers anti bad for the country so that they should be broken up. Finally, the national government and some states passed laws that placed limits on corporations and big companies. These laws made it illegal for companies to make agreements to charge only a certain price. Later on the national government forced monopoly to be broken up. Such laws and government action didn't entirely do away with monopolies. Nor did they stop the growth of huge corporations. But they did show that American people had decided that some of the changes that had occurred were harmful. |