Infographic Template Galleries

Created with Fabric.js 1.4.5 BIG BUSINESS The term "Big Business"refers to the concentrationof industrial and financialpower that began in the second half of thenineteenth century and continued through theend of the twentieth By 1900, the UnitedStates had becomethe largest industrialnation in the world This growth was dueto factors including apro-business politicalclimate; a burst ofinventions such as thetelephone, the electriclight, and the automobile;the availability ofvast natural resources; a growing population;and improved productionmethods, including the division of productioninto discrete steps,each performed by a separate worker Because the governmentdid little to regulate business during the nineteenth century, these and other "robber barons" wereable to gain monopoly ornear-monopoly power in their respective industries. The framework ofgovernmental regulationand trade union representation provided some measure of balance to the economic power of business during the middle of the twentieth century. During the last twodecades of the twentiethcentury, businessinterests regained much of the influence they had lostduring the middleof the century. Beginningwith the strongly pro-businessReagan and Bush administrations,and continued by the Clinton administration, the federal government tooka less strict attitude towardcontrolling monopoliesand limiting the powerof businesses The total dollar volume ofmergers increasedthroughout the 1990s,setting new records ineach year from 1994 to 1999 The total dollar volume ofmergers increasedthroughout the 1990s,setting new records ineach year from 1994 to 1999 Meanwhile, wages forworking people stagnated,and inequality betweenthe rich and poor becameworse than at anytime since the 1940s. In 1998, William H. Gates 3d,had personal wealth of$50 billion, more than thecombined net worth of the poorest 40 percent of the U.S. population.
Create Your Free Infographic!