Transcript File
Big Business and
Monopolies
MORE THAN JUST A GAME
Why did Big Business grow?
Availability of work force
National markets created by transportation
Lower-cost production
Inventions
Advertising
Financial resources
Access to raw materials and energy
Key Terms
Dividend – a sum of money paid to shareholders of
a corporation out of earnings.
Shareholder – a holder or owner of shares,
especially in a company or corporation.
Captain of Industry – the head of a large business
firm.
Industrial Cities
Pittsburg – Steel
Detroit – Automobile
Chicago – Meat Packing
New England - Textile
Important People
John D. Rockefeller
Standard Oil
Andrew Carnegie
Steel
Henry Ford
Automobile
Cornelius Vanderbilt
Railroad
Top 10 Largest American Companies in 2006
Company
Industry
1
Wal-Mart
Retailing
2
Exxon-Mobil
Oil & Gas Operations
3
General Motors
Automobile
4
Chevron
Oil & Gas Operations
5
Ford Motor Company
Automobile
6
ConocoPhillips
Oil & Gas Operations
7
General Electric
Conglomerates
8
Citigroup
Banking
9
AIG
Insurance
10
IBM
Software & Services
Questions
1. What are the three largest American companies?
Wal-Mart, Exxon-Mobil, General Motors
2. Which industry is the represented the most on the top 10 list?
Oil & Gas Operations
3. Why is Wal-Mart the largest American company when it sells everything cheaper?
Global store, millions of stores.
4. Which companies do you think are on the rise? On the fall?
Technology
Automobile
With your partner analyze the political
cartoon and answer the following questions:
1. What company does the octopus represent?
Standard Oil
The Standard Oil Octopus is an 2.example
of the control that
What object is the octopus grabbing and controlling?
U.S. Capitol,and
Shippingthe
Industries,
State House, Steel and
monopolies had over the economy
government.
Copper Industries.
3. According
to the artist
is the octopus
a monopoly?
This cartoon was published
in 1904
during
Teddy
Why/why
not?
Yes and opinion
Roosevelt's presidency. The only
thing not under control of
4. Do you think the artist likes monopolies? Why/why not?
the octopus is the White House.
OpinionPresident Roosevelt is
Bonus: What other industries were dominated by
using the Sherman Anti-trust
Act
tobeginning
regulate
monopolies
at the
of the 1900s?the
Railroads
monopolies.
Standard Oil and the Sherman Anti-Trust Act
With your partner read the article and answer the questions.
Monopoly Defined
Monopoly is a market structure in which there
is a single supplier of a good or service. Also, a
firm that is the single supplier of a good or
service for which there are no close substitutes;
also known as monopolist.
The Benefits of Competition
Competition forces producers to operate efficiently.
Competition lowers prices.
Competition improves the quality of goods and services.
Competition forces producers to be innovative.
Natural Monopolies: An Exception to
Competition
Some cases exist where competition is not the best alternative.
Natural monopolies arise where the operation of one firm lowers industry
costs compared to the operation of several firms in the industry.
Examples of natural monopolies include utilities which provide:
Electricity
Local Telephone
Natural Gas
Water
Sewerage
Cable
One more thing….
Read: Let’s Play Monopoly on your own and answer the questions. When you finish, turn in your
handout/notes and pick up your homework.
Next class, be ready to play a new version on monopoly.