Chapter 26 - Corporate mergers and antitrust. The main contents of this chapter include all of the following: The explanation of antitrust, major antitrust laws, modern antitrust, types of mergers, the effectiveness of antitrust, the trend toward bigness, the microsoft case. | Chapter 26 Corporate Mergers and Antitrust 26-1 Copyright 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Chapter Objectives The explanation of antitrust Major antitrust laws Modern antitrust Types of mergers The effectiveness of antitrust The trend toward bigness The Microsoft case 26-2 Copyright 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. A Historical Perspective on Corporate Concentration The history of the American economy since the Civil War has been one of growing corporate concentration Like tides, this concentration has had its ebbs and flows During the last century and a quarter, a few hundred companies came to dominate our economy 26-3 Copyright 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Antitrust The political background During the 19th century the federal government rarely intervened in the economy There were, however, two major forms of intervention, both of which were key issues in the events leading up to the Civil War high protective tariffs the transcontinental railroad 26-4 Copyright 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. The Political Background At various times the government passed a high protective tariff that made imports more expensive and greatly aided northern manufacturers This forced the south to pay much higher prices for the foreign goods they needed The transcontinental railroad, was built with tremendous amounts of federal aid and it completely bypassed the south Both policies were benevolent to big business, so few protests were raised about government intervention in the economy 26-5 Copyright 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. The Political Background The late 19th century was the era of the “trust” Trusts were cartels that set prices and allocated sales among their member firms The most blatant were in oil and sugar Others were in meat packing, cottonseed and linseed oil, lead, leather, whiskey, tobacco, electrical tools, coal, . | Chapter 26 Corporate Mergers and Antitrust 26-1 Copyright 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Chapter Objectives The explanation of antitrust Major antitrust laws Modern antitrust Types of mergers The effectiveness of antitrust The trend toward bigness The Microsoft case 26-2 Copyright 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. A Historical Perspective on Corporate Concentration The history of the American economy since the Civil War has been one of growing corporate concentration Like tides, this concentration has had its ebbs and flows During the last century and a quarter, a few hundred companies came to dominate our economy 26-3 Copyright 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Antitrust The political background During the 19th century the federal government rarely intervened in the economy There were, however, two major forms of intervention, both of which were key issues in the events leading up to the Civil War
