Rise of Monopoly Capital

The Rise of Monopoly Capital was a period in the Old United States from the mid-1890s to 1914/1915, when capital was increasingly consolidated under the control of increasingly fewer individuals.

Modern political economy has provided adequate explanations for this historical expansion of capital.

Hannity notes:

"As the rate of profit fell, the very nature of capitalist market competition drove consolidation. It was no longer enough to be content with dozens of competitors in a given commodity market. But the size of the market for goods simply could not expand fast enough to keep in pace with the falling rate of profit. Without consolidation, each passing year would bring ever diminishing returns to capital, and thus stagnation. The successful firms, chiefed by the most ruthless and unscrupulous, acted first. They destroyed their competitors by whatever means they could, and absorbed their empires into their own. They colluded with one another to form cartels to maintain profits for themselves and their shareholders. And through the consolidation of power in the monopoly trust, they came to dominate political power within the state."