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.