Rise of the Corporate Economy

<p>First published in 1976, this much acclaimed book looks at the story of how today's large corporations have superseded the small competing firms of the nineteenth century. The long-run analysis confirms that the crucial periods in the formulation of the modern corporate system were the 1920's and 1960's. The merger wave of these decades was associated with a desire to improve the efficiency of Britain’s industrial organization, and the author shows that it was in a large measure responsible for the trend improvement (by historical if not international standards) in Britain's growth performance.</p><p>Students of business, economic history and industrial economics will all welcome the return to print of a notable contribution to the continuing debate on the evolution and control of the corporate manufacturing sector.</p> <p>1. Business: History and Economics 2. The Industrial Inheritance; The Growth of Firms to 1914 3. The Rationalization Movement 4. Government: Trustbuster or Promoter 5. Capitalist Ownership and the Stock Market 6. Management and the Limits to Growth 7. The Rise of the Corporate Economy: Dimensions 8. The Rise of the Corporate Economy: Directions 9. From the 1930's to the 1950's: Continuity or Change? 10. The Modern Corporate Economy 11. The Upshot for Welfare</p>