The Bigness Complex
Industry, Labor, and Government in the American Economy, Second Edition
2nd Edition
Published on 1. January 1986
Book
Paperback/Softback
400 pages
978-0-8047-4969-5 (ISBN)
Description
The Bigness Complex confronts head-on the myth that organizational giantism leads to economic efficiency and well-being in the modern age. On the contrary, it demonstrates how bigness undermines our economic productivity and progress, endangers our democratic freedoms, and exacerbates our economic problems and challenges.
This new edition has a thoroughly updated variety of issues, examples, and new developments, including government bailouts of the airline industry; regulation of biotechnology; the fiasco of recent electricity deregulation; and mergers and consolidations in oil, radio, and grocery retailing. The analysis is framed in the timeless context of American distrust of concentrations of power. The authors show how both the left and the right fail to address the central problem of power in formulating their diagnoses and recommendations. The book concludes with an alternative public philosophy as a viable guidepost for public policy toward business in a free-enterprise democracy.
This new edition has a thoroughly updated variety of issues, examples, and new developments, including government bailouts of the airline industry; regulation of biotechnology; the fiasco of recent electricity deregulation; and mergers and consolidations in oil, radio, and grocery retailing. The analysis is framed in the timeless context of American distrust of concentrations of power. The authors show how both the left and the right fail to address the central problem of power in formulating their diagnoses and recommendations. The book concludes with an alternative public philosophy as a viable guidepost for public policy toward business in a free-enterprise democracy.
Reviews / Votes
"Adams and Brock demolish the view that equates size and efficiency and expose how special interests distort public policy for the purpose of corporate welfare."-Douglas Irwin, Professor of Economics, Dartmouth College "Economics can't properly be separated from politics, because economic power translates directly into political power. At a time in our nation's history when wealth is more concentrated than at any time since the Gilded Age, The Bigness Complex is enormously helpful for understanding what's wrong and what's needed to put it right. Anyone who cares about the future of American capitalism and democracy should read this book and take to heart its message."-Robert B. Reich, Former U.S. Secretary of Labor, Hexter Professor of Social and Economic Policy, Brandeis University "This book brings the full, dramatic weight of mainstream economic research against the excesses and follies-and the dangers-of businesses that are simply too big. As Adams and Brock show, corporate obesity has cut efficiency, reduced innovation, and eroded the fairness of American society."-William G. Shepherd, Professor Emeritus of Economics, University of MassachusettsMore details
Edition
Second Edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Palo Alto
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Edition type
New edition
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
8 tables
Dimensions
Height: 226 mm
Width: 150 mm
Thickness: 24 mm
Weight
531 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8047-4969-5 (9780804749695)
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Schweitzer Classification
Persons
The late Walter Adams was President and Distinguished Professor of Economics at Michigan State University. James W. Brock is the Moeckel Professor of Economics at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Adams and Brock have also co-authored The Tobacco Wars, The Structure of American Industry, Antitrust Economics on Trial, Adam Smith Goes to Moscow, and Dangerous Pursuits: Mergers and Acquisitions in the Age of Wall Street.
Content
Contents List of Tables and Charts Preface Part I The Problem of Power 1. Power and Public Policy 2. Economists and Power Part II The Apologetics of Power 3. Operating Efficiency 4. Innovation Efficiency 5. Social Efficiency Part III The Political Economy of Power: A Historical Perspective 6. The Revolution of 1776: American Government 7. The Revolution of 1776: British Economic Policy Part IV Competition and the Control of Power 8. The Role of Antitrust 9. Cartels 10. Monopoly 11. The Merger Problem 12. Horizontal Mergers and Joint Ventures 13. Vertical Mergers 14. Conglomerate Mergers 15. The Limitations of Antitrust Part V Government Intervention and Private Power 16. The Regulation of Power 17. Airline Regulation 18. The Limits of Deregulation 19. The Protection of Power 20. The Bailout of Power Part VI The Coalescence of Power 21. The Labor-Industrial Complex 22. The "Sports-Industrial" Complex Part VII Public Policy Alternatives 23. The Neo-Darwinist Vision 24. The Neo-Liberal Vision 25. A Public Philosophy Notes Index Library of Congress Subject Headings for this publication: Big business United States, Industrial concentration United States, Industries Size United States, Industrial efficiency United States, Competition United States, Trade regulation United States