part i: why big business is good defending the corporation in american society, 1870-1920
TRANSCRIPT
Part I: Why Big Business is Good
Defending the Corporation in
American Society, 1870-1920
Why Big Business?A Growing National Market
Railroad Mileage: 46,000 in 1865, 238,000 in 1909.
Railroads: Faster, More Efficient, Operate in Night and Bad Weather.
National Goods Began Replacing Local Operations (Examples: Swift and Armour Meatpacking Companies)
Rise of a National Market Created Consumer Culture
Example:Sears CatalogIn 1880s
Why Big Business Becomes More Productive
Vertical Integration: “All parts of the production process—from raw materials to final product—are controlled by a company.”
Economies of Scale: “When producing more means producing more cheaply on a per unit basis.”
Example: James Bonsack’s Cigarette Machine
Was the Rise of Big Business Inevitable?
A. Probably Yes
B. No
Life Before Big Business: The Oil Industry
Oil Fields Oil Transportation
Refineries Retailers
John D. Rockefeller IntegratedOil Industry
Oil Fields
John D. Rockefeller IntegratedOil Industry
Oil Fields
Oil Transportation
John D. Rockefeller IntegratedOil Industry
Oil Fields
Oil Transportation
Refineries
John D. Rockefeller IntegratedOil Industry
Oil Fields
Oil Transportation
Refineries
Retailers
Why Rockefeller Was More Productive
Most efficient refining technology. Not dependent on outside suppliers: own
railroad cars, own barrels, own pipelines. Frantic devotion to cutting costs: The glue
example. Economies of Scale: Price of Kerosene Falls
Big Business Pioneered New Management Techniques
Middle Managers: More Prominent, More Important
The Virtues of Big Business: Andrew Carnegie
Poor Immigrant from Scotland
Tom Scott & Pennsylvania RR
From PA RR to Carnegie Steel
Carnegie Demonstrated “Virtues” of Big Business
Opportunity to All (Immigrants)
Carnegie Demonstrated “Virtues” of Big Business
Opportunity for All (Immigrants)
Continuous Technological Change
Carnegie Demonstrated “Virtues” of Big Business
Opportunity for All (Immigrants)
Continuous Technological Change
Lower Prices Revolutionize Economic Life (Survival of the Fittest)
Lower Prices Generally Benefit …
A. The Rich
B. The Lower and Middle Classes
Innovation Keeps Coming
Oil
Steel
Automobile
“Giving it All Away”
Part II: Why Big Business Was Bad
Rich Societies Are Generally Happier than Poor Societies
A. Yes
B. No
Why Big Business Was Bad
Exploitation of Workers
Why Big Business Was Bad
Exploitation of Workers
Rise in Inequality
Why Big Business Was Bad
Exploitation of Workers
Rise in Inequality
Plight of Small Producers (End of Free Labor Ideology?)
Why Big Business Was Bad Exploitation of
Workers
Rise in Inequality Plight of Small
Producers (End of Free Labor Ideology?)
Big Business and Political Corruption