220 likes | 245 Views
Richest in the world now?. Do you know who is the richest person in the world today? How did he/she make their money?. Bill Gates. He is worth an estimated 87 billion dollars He made his fortune as the head of Microsoft computer co. Self-made entrepreneur. Richest Then.
E N D
Richest in the world now? • Do you know who is the richest person in the world today? How did he/she make their money?
Bill Gates • He is worth an estimated 87 billion dollars • He made his fortune as the head of Microsoft computer co. • Self-made entrepreneur
Richest Then • Do you know the richest people in 1890s/1900s? • How do you think they made their money?
John D. Rockefeller • John D. Rockefeller made his money in oil, the fuel of industrialization. • He purchased as many competing oil companies as he could and by 1882 his companies controlled 90% of the nation’s pipelines and 84% of the nation’s oil. Founded the Standard Oil Co. • Horizontal Consolidation
Andrew Carnegie • Carnegie made his money in steel production • He created his empire by buying all parts of the steel making process including coal mines, iron mines, steel refineries. • Vertical integration
J.P. Morgan • He bought Carnegie’s steel company and consolidated it with several other firms to create the U.S. Steel Corporation • Controlled 60% of American production. • He was for corporate mergers.
Corporate mergers • The joining together of two or more competing companies or organizations. • Led to Trusts & Cartels • Ex: Disney and Pixar, Sirius and XM Radio, Exxon and Mobil
Trust • Trusts are a legal concept that allows one person to manage another person’s property • Combining corporations with the purpose of reducing competition and controlling prices • Trust is synonymous with monopoly, because the trust was a popular way for monopolists to hold their businesses, and a way for cartel participants to create enforceable agreements • “Standard Oil was the first trust.”
Cartel • An agreement/alliance between business owners who produced a similar product. • As a pool (cartel) they could limit the supply of the product and drive prices up. • They would also agree to divide market areas so that each member of the cartel would prosper.
Monopoly - Did you know? Why aren’t there electric streetcars any more? • Because in the 1930s, GM, along with Standard Oil, Firestone Tires, and several other corporations formed a company to buy municipal streetcar systems, dismantle them, and replace them with buses. In April 1949, a Chicago federal jury convicted GM, Standard Oil, and Firestone of criminally conspiring to replace electric transportation with buses and monopolizing the sale of buses – they were fined $5,000.
SHERMAN ANTI-TRUST ACT • In 1890, the Sherman Anti-Trust Act made it illegal to form a monopoly (Trust) • Prosecuting companies under the Act was not easy – a business would simply reorganize into single companies to avoid prosecution • Seven of eight cases brought before the Supreme Court were thrown out
DARWIN LIMITED HIS FINDINGS TO THE ANIMAL WORLD Social Darwinism • Charles Darwin believed that nature developed by the strongest genes surviving through generations. • Herbert Spencer, a social scientist, developed the theory of Social Darwinism, arguing that individuals must compete (economically), with the fittest coming out on top. • He believed competition benefited society and opposed government programs to help business or the poor. SPENCER WAS THE ONE WHO COINED THE PHRASE “SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST”
Survival of the Fittest • Many industrialists including John D. Rockefeller were Social Darwinists, arguing that the wealthy deserved their success because they had triumphed in economic competition. • The poor on the other hand had proven to be “unfit.”
Gospel of Wealth • Andrew Carnegie believed in Social Darwinism, but he also believed that the wealthy had a responsibility to help the poor. • He called this his Gospel of Wealth • Carnegie became a philanthropist, who gave his wealth to build libraries, music halls, and to help the poor.
Robber Barons or Captains of Industry • People were divided over the role of Rockefeller, Carnegie, and other emerging capitalists. • Admirers of these businessmen referred to them as “captains of industry”, while critics called them “Robber Barons.”
Robber Barons • What is a Baron? • Where are the Robber Barons in the picture? • What are the key terms used in the cartoon?