The Implications Of Big Business

It's difficult not to be cynical about how “big business” treats the subject of ethics in today's world. In many corporations, where the

It's difficult not to be cynical about how “big business” treats the subject of ethics in today's world. In many corporations, where the

The growing corporations in America dominated most of the economy, creating a large gap between the rich and the poor. During this time period food, lightening, and fuel prices declined significantly, and the cost of living

It seems implausible the word democracy isn't written in the United States Constitution, or in the Constitution's Preamble, or even in the Declaration of Independence. One would assume a concept so paramount to modern American culture would surely be derivative from one of it's oldest and most endeared documents. Alas, it is not. The Constitution only specifically mentions two entities, the government and “We the People”. Defining government is an easy enough task, but who are “We the People”? From originally consisting of only white male property owners, to eventually adding in other races, income classes, women, and astonishingly, corporations, the definition of “We the People” has evolved numerous times. The word corporation is another key term the architects of our government failed to define for us, perhaps that is why it found it's way into the phrase “We the People”. A grave dilemma lies in this fallible defining of terms. Granting corporations person-hood legislatively shifts the power of democracy from human interests to corporate interests. This corrosion of human interest can clearly be noted when examining the grasps for corporate power highlighted in the court cases of Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby, Citizens United v. Federal Election, and United States v. Sourapas and Crest Beverage Company.

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.

Big Ideas for Big Business was written by Edward Purinton, dean of the American Efficiency Foundation and author. This document was written because the American economy boomed in the 1920s due to post-war conditions and more people were becoming wealthy as a result. Edward Purinton advocated and supported 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 ().

Go into any town in America and all the businesses are the same, from the layout of the buildings to the products inside. The omnipresence of these cooperations is so much a fact that most people don’t even question it, but the increase in cooperate influence in American life is detrimental to the people of this country, from the job genocide, to manufacturing youth behavior, and even the corrupting influence of monopolies seep into the society and is poisoning it from the inside.

Business in the past did not have as much power in the government. The government is being manipulated and bribed by lobbyist hired by large companies to keep taxes low for the wealthy and minimize regulation. This further supports the crisis of income inequality and does not even touch on the idea that most large business produce excess amount of waste that are harmful to our society and our environment. It ultimately comes down to who is able to pay off the government. What is most disturbing is most recently, the United States has elected a president who is a billionaire and is part of the top 1 percent and despite his promise to “drain the swamp” he is surrounding himself with lobbyist and political leaders who believe in trickle down economics and small government. Therefore, our current government does little to reflect and acknowledge the struggle of working class America constraining those who are poor yet hardworking.

Although the United States of America was considered a relatively new country, as it has only been independent for a mere 176 years during the release of the film The Crowd, the economy was booming with an abundant of job opportunities; yet if you look closer it is extremely difficult to move forward in life, as The Crowd depicts the common man as a replaceable, faceless worker that is forced to suffer while the world moves on to an uncertain future. One of the earliest forms of big businesses in the United States of America were trusts, a separate legal entity. From railroads to Carnegie Steel to Standard Oil, these large corporations have complete control on a specific entity and can charge any price they want. The United States was

The large corporations were the ones who were able to benefit from the “New Economy”. This is because these corporations have a continuously growing power that influences the government and politics. These large corporations have given large amounts of money to

The global economy has not always been driven by large corporations. In fact, the idea and product of these globalized giants were not truly prevalent until just over a hundred years ago. In the first year of the 20th century works were under way to create a business firm that was so large it would become the world’s first large corporation. J.P. Morgan and a group of companies in the steel industry developed and created the U.S. Steel Corporation. The company would go on to become America’s first billion-dollar organization due to being built around nearly all major producers of steel, iron, and coke at the time. A near monopoly on the industry had effectively been developed and created. While this institution was private not all

Big business has a constructive influence on America. Large corporations contribute much more to a country’s economic well being than smaller ones. Bigger corporations are more productive, pay higher salaries and hourly, generate more jobs, and are more successful in international markets. However, not everyone believes that big business has a positive impact for the US. Some hold to the opinion that big business will never be as effective as small businesses. However, as J. D. Harrison, who covers startups, small business and entrepreneurship for the Washington Post, states that even though people believe that small business is the backbone of our nation, yet “companies with more than 500 workers employed about 45 percent of the workforce yet contributed 65 percent of the jobs created since 1990” (The Washington Post, 2013). This is not to discredit the influence of small business in the US. In fact, they are an essential part of our society. Small business have created and maintained thousands of jobs in the last half century. But we will focus on big business in this discussion. What is the history of big business in the US, and what were the fruitful results, as well harmful ones? What about the political side of big business, and finally, are there ethical associations when it comes to large corporations?

Some theorists suggest that it is not the nature of the political framework of a country that determines its economic success, but the type of policies implemented and their astuteness. This essay will analyse what affect different ideologies and regimes have on business. In all circumstances, business and politics are heavily interdependent. The government is not only a large customer of the private sector and a tax collector but it also lays down the legal framework in which businesses operate, regulations, or lack thereof, can either impede business or allow it to flourish, creating jobs, wealth and opportunity for society. As a result, the regime of a country and the political party in power and what kind of views it holds in relation to specific regulations can have a massive impact on how successful business subsequently becomes. Some suggest that democracy is the most favourable environment for business to thrive; this is the main focus of the essay. Furthermore it examines certain governments which may be too involved in business as well as the opposing argument that it doesn’t have enough control over businesses and the idea that business is in fact too influential within politics.