Regulating Big Business: Antitrust in Great Britain and America, 1880–1990

Late in the nineteenth century a new form of capitalism emerged in Great Britain and the United States. In both nations this economic transformation spawned social and political tensions that compelled the public and policy makers to decide upon an appropriate response to big business. A primary focus of public discourse was antitrust. This book explores the development of big business from 1880 to 1990 in a comparative context. It shows that government policies influenced the point at which managerial capitalism prevailed first in America, then in Britain, and that the search for these policies reflected the adjustment of the business order to changing economic conditions.