Essay On Andrew Carnegie Monopolies

Andrew Carnegie was a man who started from nothing and built his way up to find his fortunes in world of steel and factories and after retiring set himself to a life of philanthropy donating his fortunes to the people. This isn’t to say he was an entirely good person however, as his time as a business owner and as an employer. Whether he was a captain of industry or a robber baron is up to your opinions, but I believe he was a true captain of industry.

Throughout history, there have been many problems present in the American life. In the time period between the 1800s to the 1900s, there were many problems such as, poor living and working conditions and powerful monopolies. Many reforms were proposed in order to solve these problems. The grisly living and working conditions, along with overpowered monopolies, were both addressed with reforms.

Andrew Carnegie. Who was he? Was he just a robber baron or a captain of industry. Andrew was a self made Entrepreneur in the late 1800s. He was the owner of the Carnegie Steel Company which monopolized the steel industry. In 1889 he wrote the famous “Gospel of Wealth” which made the use of libraries to give to the worthy poor that were smart to use them. He also gave away 350 million dollars. On the other side Carnegie’s steel workers were treated poorly by long working hours and reduced wages. He also gave support to the plant manager Henry Frick who hired Pinkerton thugs to intimidate workers on strike and many were killed in the conflict. Andrew Carnegie was sometimes saw as a robber baron taking others money to give away not spending his own money On the other hand people saw him as a captain of industry giving to the worthy poor with libraries and millions of dollars.

The progressive era was an era of reform. At the time monopolies controlled production of what they produced. American industrialization was based on the free enterprise system, where people have the right to make their choices in what they work, buy, or make. Businesses used the free enterprise system to their advantage and used their own resources to compete with other businesses and focused on the needs of the consumer to make greater profit. Some businesses used different tactics to drive other businesses out and strove for greater labor with least pay. Eventually, the progressive movement would create the turning point of the century and restore

The time period was in the 18th to the 19th century . In the U.S people are getting paid less wages and having some major rules and lastly having punishments. Carnegie was from Duntermline, Scotland, United Kingdom .He started by working a series of railroad jobs but, by 1889 he owned Carnegie steel corporation. He said his job to become a philanthropist and to dedicate his time to expand his philanthropic job . Andrew Carnegie is a captain of Industry because he gave money away 350 millions of dollars , succeeded in this environment and maintained the image of a philanthropist.

Andrew Carnegie’s motto was as simple as it could get, “Watch the costs, and the profits will take care of themselves” (Boyer 18-1d). I consider Carnegie as someone who is not afraid to play dirty; he is a master at running his competitors out of business. “Using rigorous cost accounting and limiting wage increases to his workers, he lowered his production costs and prices below those of his competitors” (Boyer 18-1d). Carnegie would stop at nothing until he got what he wanted. “When these tactics did not drive them out of business, he asked for favors from his railroad-president friends and gave “commissions” to railroad purchasing agents to win business” (Boyer 18-1d). Carnegie was way ahead of his competition in the steel company business. Andrew Carnegie had all his competitors scared to death that he would take over the industry, so they decided they would buy him out. “In 1901, J. Pierpont Morgan purchased Carnegie’s companies and set up the United States Steel Corporation” (Boyer 18-1d). Carnegie did not just let the pieces fall into place, he took charge and knew what was going to happen. That is why I think Carnegie is a much better

Since colonial times, monopolies have been present in the United States’s economy. But as always, with time comes change, and that situation directly applies to the monopolies in this country. A monopoly is defined as the exclusive control of a commodity or service in a particular market, or a control that makes the manipulation of prices possible. Monopolies had a negative impact on the United States due their unfairness to consumers and laborers, they don’t allow for innovation, and they stifle all competition.

Rockefeller and Carnegie had similar backgrounds. Carnegie was a Scottish immigrant. Being an immigrant, he started off with little money. Rockefeller, while he was born and raised in the United States, came from a poor family, as his father was an often struggling peddler, and his mother stayed at home to raise the six children of the family. Both of them began working while they were struggling to make ends meet, but ended as two of the richest men in America.

A monopoly is just a better competitor. Monopoly law is a tool for the politically connected and economically uncompetitive. And they use that tool to get rid of the competition. It has been seen this way many times throughout history. A true monopoly doesn’t exist in the free market. Monopolies will only be around with the help of the government. An example being AT&T.

¡§Monopoly¡¨ is defined by its market power. Monopolies are always known to possess an exclusive control over its particular market and that gives them the sovereign authority to control the prices for its goods or services (Dictionary.com Unabridged (v1.1), 2006). Hence, they represent the market. They indeed have detrimental effects on consumer and social welfare.

Monopoly markets have one provider for a good or service. With no competition to influence demand or supply, the monopolist offers less goods than demanded at prices higher than competitive market forces would dictate. Monopolies are notable for their market power (can raise prices without losing customers). U. S. drug manufacturers are an example of monopolies, as they have exclusive rights to sell goods in the US (even though competition exists in other parts of the world). They have a relatively inelastic demand curve (a 1% increase in price will likely reduce demand by less than 1%).

People have been doing anything in their power to gain money. Many think they are leading the competition with doing nothing wrong. Others see it as unfair to do the things that monopolies have done to society. Lawsuits have been made to stop the ones behind this, but some monopolies weren’t always out to hurt the economy, but to help it. Monopolies have impacted this economy in the past and even to this day.

One well-known example of a monopoly firm is the Microsoft Corporation. Microsoft is a technological company which majorly sells technological services such as software programs and similar technological things. It is considered as a leading company in that area as it sells products for which no close substitutes can be found all around the world. Moreover, Microsoft is considered as a multinational and global firm which sells its significant products all around the world which gives limited or no space for competition, Which is also known as barriers to entry, for other firms. All of these factors

To better have a picture of a monopoly industry, why not given examples of one major monopoly industry in the world, the Microsoft. Not sure if there is familiar to this product, but if anyone wants to buy its software, windows is the only choice since they are the only ones who provides it. So whether we like windows or not, if there is need for a computer that 's the only one we can buy. Another example, nationally recognized is the U.S postal service, where there is no competition and it’s protected by the government. Whether

A monopoly (from Greek monos μόνος (alone or single) + polein πωλεῖν (to sell)) exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity (this contrasts with a monopsony which relates to a single entity 's control of a market to purchase a good or service, and with oligopoly which consists of a few entities dominating an industry).[2] Monopolies are thus characterized by a lack of economic competition to produce the good or service, a lack of viable substitute goods, and the existence of a high monopoly price well above the firm 's marginal cost that leads to a high monopoly profit.[3] The verb "monopolise" refers to the process by which a company gains the ability to raise prices or exclude competitors. In economics, a monopoly is a single seller. In law, a monopoly is a business entity that has significant market power, that is, the power to charge overly high prices.[4] Although monopolies may be big businesses, size is not a characteristic of a monopoly. A small business may still have the power to raise prices in a small industry (or market).[4]