The Implications Of Big Business

After the Civil war, large businesses ruled America. Prior to the industrial revolution, the government upheld a hands-off approach towards business. Under the laissez-faire principle, free, unregulated markets led to competition, yet this system suffered under the wrath of growing corporations. The impact of big business on the economy and politics was immense during 1870 to 1899. Corporations were growing significantly in number and size, which had a domineering affect on American economy and defined American life.

Throughout history, major corporations have taken control over nations. During the late 1800s and early 1900s big business have made a name for themselves in the united states. Even though, major corporations have had a positive impact on society, they in fact hurt our economy greatly.

As the age of Reconstruction ended, the Gilded Age of big businesses began in the United States and with it came new jobs and goods for Americans. When new corporations became more successful, it made an immense impact on the economy, the political system and the lives of citizens. Economically, the cost of food and living went down significantly as well as a surplus of jobs. Political leaders were corrupted by big business as their decisions and laws were influenced by the wealthy class’ bribes and stealing from the common man. Though mass production allowed goods to be made quicker and in greater quantity, the workers’ horrible working conditions and remarkably long hours caused the creation of unions and strikes. Despite the great effect big business had on the economy in the Gilded Age through the decline in the cost of food and fuel, the daily lives of average working-class citizens were negatively impacted by long hours, horrid working conditions leading to unions and a corrupted political system.

In order for American ideals to survive in an industrialized modern economy, the government must regulate capitalism. As capitalism grew in the Gilded Age, it becomes more of a priority to control business in order protect capitalism, as well as the other American ideals. The government must listen to the people's feedback and improve American democracy, focus on consumer protection and labor rights, and protect competition with between large and local businesses.

These large companies swept the nation buying out and replacing smaller, regional companies; eventually creating a monopoly. This amassed to a hand full of wealthy and influential people holding the majority of economic and political power. As these companies have gained in size, so have their political influence and development of bureaucracy and “depersonalization of the work environment” (Hodson, R. & Sullivan, T.A., 2008, p. 26).

Throughout American industrialization, large industries were run by some of the richest men in history. These men got the nickname “robber barons” due to their creation of large monopolies by making questionable business and government activities, and by taking advantage of their workers to succeed. But in The Myth of the Robber Barons by Burton W. Folsom, he argues against these claims, and he takes a deeper look into some of America’s richest and most successful men. By specifically looking at Cornelius Vanderbilt, John D. Rockefeller, James J. Hill, the Scranton family and many more, Folsom believed that these so-called robber barons were actually entrepreneurs with a drive to succeed, leading to an improvement in American lives.

In the post-Civil War United States, corporations grew significantly in number, size and influence. During this time period, big business impacted the economy politically, economically and the way Americans responded changed over time. As business started to grow, some companies monopolized other companies while some companies also started to lose their business. Furthermore, people started to have more leisure time and business played a role in providing entertainment for its people. These changes over the past thirty years were molded by the actions and development of big business.

Between 1865 and 1939 not all Americans accepted big business dominance. In the beginning of this era

There has been a lot of fuss over big business influencing the government in the United States lately. Now there is no doubt that the business elite have some influence on politics. It can even be traced back to the early 1900’s, when “the People’s Party had disintegrated, but many writers and activists have continued to echo the Populists’ central thesis: that the U.S. democratic political system is in fact dominated by business elites” (). Although there are countless arguments to go against this idea, the questions still comes up today: Is government dominated by big business? Political Scientist G. William Domhoff believes that government is dominated by big business. More specifically, Domhoff believes that owners and top-level managers in income-producing properties are not only dominant power figures in the US, but they also have inordinate influence in the federal government (). Another political scientist however, Sheldon Kamieniecki, believes otherwise. He states that businesses do not really get involved in policies that affect them; and even when they do, their success rate at influencing policies is not consistent. In fact, he believes that other factions have more influence on government policies ().

The United States at the end of the 19th century was a breeding ground for big business and the strong connection it achieved with the government. At this point the wealthy has monopolized the country and the government has stepped aside corrupting the foundation in which it was meant for the people.

By smaller businesses not being able to compete, this just gave the already huge companies even more power.

Some key contributions of small business in the U.S. economy is that they create new jobs, create new innovations at twice the rate of their big business counterparts, and they tend to find more opportunities than big companies.

Today, the Big Business is one of the main features of the modern economic environment. Big Business refers mainly to corporations, huge economic entities operating for profit and distributing the ownership by the means of stocks. The Big Business started to grow in America after the Civil War, in the 1860s and already reached its peak of strengths by the “roaring” 1920s. Although Big Business faces much social and governmental control nowadays, its power is still enormous. Large business corporations provide most of economic output, employment places, financial investments, and production output. Politics is also very much influenced by the large corporations and is often forced into pursuing businesses’ strategic interests. Even average

In the period of 1870 to 1900 big business in the United States had tremendous impact on: politics as lobbying and corruption ran rampant, economics as big business controlled the economic trends of the era, and the personal lives of people as they were directly influenced by these businesses' actions.

The overwhelming facts point to a shady underworld of self-dealing and opportunistic exploitation of the poor and working class, which was until recently, well hidden from the commoner. The executives of WorldCom and Enron provide real world examples of unethical business practices, where the desire to make money for their shareholders transcended into an addiction to greed and self-dealing that were displayed by their, “excessive pay, perks, and golden parachutes”(Carson 392) at the expense of all stakeholders. All is not lost, there are corporations that pride themselves in their sound business model and commitment to ethical business practices. Such companies as Eaton Corporation, and Weyerhaeuser, who according to Ethisphere.com, a business ethics watchdog, are among the “2010 World`s most ethical companies.” (Ethisphere)