The Corporate Reconstruction of American Capitalism, 1890-1916: The Market, the Law, and Politics

Martin J. Sklar

Cambridge University Press, 1988 - Antitrust law - 484 pages

Around the turn of the century American politics entered a period of profound change during which regulatory minimalism and statist command with respect to the economy were rejected in favor of positive government engaged in both regulatory and distributive roles. Through a fresh examination of the judicial, legislative, and political aspects of the antitrust debates in the year from 1890 to 1916, Martin J. Sklar shows that the arguments were not simply over competition versus combination, but also over the larger question of the proper relation between government and the market and between the state and society.

Contents

• Introduction Corporate capitalism and corporate liberalism: 1
• Mode of production and social movements: 4
• Ascending and declining stages of capitalism: 14
• Class metamorphosis and corporate reconstruction: 20
• Corporate capitalism and American liberalism: 33
• Metamorphosis in property and thought: 43
• Property: 47
• The market: 53
• Hadley and Jenks: 57
• Conant: 62
• Marginal utility Americanized: 68
• Conant Keynes and Marx: 72
• Corporate capitalism and imperialism: 78
• Conclusion: 85
• The corporate reconstruction and the antitrust law: 86
• Before the Sherman Act: 93
• The Sherman Act: 105
• Judicial construction 18901897: 117
• Coup de jure: 127
• Restoration: 146
• American corporations European cartels: 154
• The corporateliberal alternative: 166
• Conclusion: 173
• The politics of antitrust: 179
• Bureau of Corporations v US Supreme Court: 184
• The movement for Sherman Act revision: 203
• The Hepburn bill: 228
• The defeat of the Hepburn bill: 253
• Between Roosevelt and Wilson: 285
• Toward a trade commission: 309
• The corporateliberal solution: 324
• Two progressive presidents: 333
• Roosevelt: 334
• Taft: 364
• Woodrow Wilson and the corporateliberal ascendancy: 383
• A history of developments: 384
• A modus vivendi in America for happiness: 392
• A middle ground between socialism and capitalism: 401
• A worldwide economic tendency: 412
• The modern idea: 419
• Conclusion Fathers and prophets: 431
• Bibliography: 442
• Index: 461

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Corporate Reconstruction of American Capitalism, 1890-1916: The Market, the Law, and Politics
• Author: Martin J. Sklar
• Edition: reprint
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1988
• ISBN: 0521313821, 9780521313827
• Length: 484 pages