In your opinion, was government intervention (like laws designed to stop industrial consolidation) necessary at this time? Is it necessary now?
We have talked a lot this week about the changing relationship between government and business throughout the Gilded Age and moving into the early 1900s.
In your opinion, was government intervention (like laws designed to stop industrial consolidation) necessary at this time? Is it necessary now?
20 Comments
2/2/2012 04:36:43 am
I do think that government intervention was needed during the Gilded age. The country at this time was moving toward industrialization and away from the small, in home cottage industries. Intervention was needed then and is still needed today because the market would be chaotic without it. There would be a huge chance of monopolies being formed if the government never interfered. Also, there would be no regulations or rules. Companies are out there to make money, and to make the most as possible, they will pay the workers the least amount. Without government intervention, companies might be paying their workers next to nothing.
Reply
John Dashner
2/5/2012 11:30:11 am
I agree with Courtney. Without the government intervention, the market would have become incredibly chaotic possible leading to a complete crash. Workers also would be treated poorly. The rich would get richer and the poor would get poorer.
Reply
Damesha
2/5/2012 08:44:00 pm
I dont believe that your opinion is correct because without government intervention there was chaos and companies was doing whatever they pleased. And you say without government intervention there wouldnt be any rules and that is exact point why we need government intervention. To bring limits to certain dreams that just might get out of hand.
Reply
Joy Kleisinger
2/2/2012 08:06:45 am
I believe that government intervention was definitely needed in the Gilded age. Without government intervention, companies could have bought out other companies, thus eliminating competition, and essentially controlling the stock market. This would have led to outrageously priced goods for consumers, and workers in factories with miniscule wages and horrible working conditions. Not to mention there would be no opportunity for new bussinesses to be created.
Reply
Caitlin Bechtold
2/2/2012 09:54:26 am
Government intervention was definitely needed in the Gilden Age because of the market at this time. Without government intervention imagine how much richer families like Rockefeller and Carnegie would be in this time period. Also, without govt. intervention there would be no economies of scale because comanies could pay whatever they wanted for anything. I think that in todays market we still need government intervention because without it chaos arise and the economy would be devastating. We need the government's intervention because they decide a lot of crutial factors of our goods to keep them low cost and average quality.
Reply
Rikki Dressman
2/2/2012 10:58:51 am
I believe that government intervention was essential in the Gilded Age. Without this kind of involvement, large corporations could buy out and take over other corporations, creating monopolies. Also, prices of goods would have been outrageous because the concept of economies of scale would not have been in effect. Companies would charge whatever they wanted for goods, especially if they were the only company that provided this product. Working conditions would be poor and the wages would be close to nothing.
Reply
John Dashner
2/2/2012 11:19:03 am
It was completely necassary. Mankind, being the money and power hungry beings that they are would continue to hurt others in the process of becoming increasingly wealthy. The government's job is to protect the people and passing laws forbidding certain acts of business is an essential part of doing this. This same intervention is still needed today because, let's face it, people haven't changed.
Reply
Felicia Pelfrey
2/2/2012 11:34:07 am
I believe that government intervention was completely necessary because without it, the government would have had control of the stock market and competition could not have happened. Businesses would lose a ton of money and be bought out by the wealthiest company. It is essential for the government to play a role in this to prevent one company having complete control over all the others. I think it is still needed today. To limit one company from taking control and being worked to death and so that monopolies do not form. Thus, if only one company was in charge, they could increase their prices sky high and we'd have to pay the price because that's the only producer. It would be deranged.
Reply
Kayla C. Johnson
2/2/2012 08:11:25 pm
Government intervention was just as necessary then as it is now. Without any restrains, large corporations would continue to grow wealthy while taking advantage of workers and creating monopolies. The stepping on of government into business helped regulate the economy, the power of these companies as well as workers’ rights. Without this people could be worked to death, the economy would be tied in knots with monopolies, and companies could grow powerful and conglomerate to no end.
Reply
Grace Thompson
2/2/2012 08:22:03 pm
It was, is, and shall be always necessary. Humans are corrupt. They will always try and seek the easiest, most profitable way they can find. If it was not for government intervention, our workers may still be children, most dying before it was their time or being injured severly. We would have no heat, no air conditioning and not enough money to pay for our lives, even the most basic one of buying food. We would be like China where 57 million (estimated in 2007) live on $127 or under in a year. These businesses were corrupt and if they were able to, they would literally run the world. Standard Oil, if not for government intervention, may have been the largest and most influential business in late 1800s America. No one deserves to be worked like a worker in a sweat shop no matter the cost to the business person or the consumer. It's people's actual lives that that low price is coming from. You should not pay $1.07 that you pay for a pack of gum (with tax) and equate that to a life of another human being.
Reply
Sophia Perry
2/2/2012 08:44:06 pm
I think that government intervention was needed during this time period. Too many companies would have taken over the others and we would have been left with 6-8 millionars and everyone one else would have been poor. Government helped with workers rights and with a regular pay. I agree with Kayla that companies would have become to large and self important and could have interfered with governments.
Reply
Damesha Bailey
2/2/2012 08:45:42 pm
I agree with Joy with out goverment intervention there would only by conflicts that would be caused by the companies. They wanted no competition and brought it onto themselves to buy up their competion and own it from there. That would only be a huge problem for consumers because the prices would be ridiculously high, because the company has control of the stock market. However, with goverment intervention those problems is able to be controled.
Reply
I do believe that government involvement was needed during he Gilded Age, but not necessarily needed now. It was needed then because there wasn't any government involvement so companies could do whatever they wanted like practically having slave labor by paying their workers next to nothing. I don't think we need it now, in the context of controlling monopolies, because the government is involved enough through things like minimum wage.
Reply
I agree with what Grace says that people are corrupt and will seek out the most profitable way to do something, but i don't agree with her comparison of the United States to China because I don't believe that no government control involved with companies will lead to the U.S. becoming Comunist-like, after all, we do have the three branches of government that wouldn't something like that to happen.
Reply
Hayley Cyphers
2/4/2012 05:30:12 am
Government Intervention was definitely needed during the Gilded Age. Without it, consumers would be suffering greatly. When a company becomes too strong for any other company to compete with, it has gone too far. There should not be such things as monopolies in society because it causes too many problems, especially if the monopoly is something that everyone needs, such as gas or oil. They could raise the price to whatever they wanted because there is no competition and everyone still needs it. It was required to intervene the strong companies because the economy would just be the several big companies and no small ones. Once a company gets that large, they can lower workers wages and take away their rights as a human. Government involvement solved these issues with minimum wage among other various things. It was necessary to protect America as a whole. It is true when said that the main concern of humans is wealth. Large companies would go to many extreme extents to gain power and money, without the involvement of government.
Reply
Nicholas Disibio
2/5/2012 11:46:22 am
Government intervention was and will always be necessary. Companies who have too much control hurt the national economy rather than help it. Companies that turn into monopolies can do what they please and they hold an edge over the consumers including the government. When a company controls the government, government interaction is necessary in controlling the power companies are able to reach.
Reply
Dexter TooMuchSwag Smith
2/5/2012 12:42:09 pm
I couldn't have said it better. I agree with Nick 150 percent! Once a monopoly is formed, they have too much power.
Reply
Dexter MakeDatMoney Smith
2/5/2012 12:56:46 pm
I believe government intervention was needed. When businesses consolidate they defeat the purpose of a capitalistic system and can ruin it. If a country's economic structure is in jeopardy then government action is drastically needed. Once a corporation consolidates in becoming a monopoly there should not be a question of if the government should get involved in the situation but the government MUST get in the situation. An industry as paramount as oil, like that of Rockefeller, should never come close to becoming a monopoly. Not only does the consumer suffer from this but the government, a very large consumer, suffers greatly too. When the government has such a large desire for a product such as oil and have to buy it for extreme cost, that business has power over the government. And that is why action must be taken during this time and in today's world.
Reply
Shelby Phillips
2/5/2012 07:56:53 pm
Governemt intervention was especially needed in this era and even now. It was easy in that time era for an industry to be able to take over. Since the government did not yet involve itself into business the companies at this time were free to do what they want. This would cause major problems to the consumer and sometimes the workers of these industries. It was never only the other company they were hurting.
Reply
Shelby Phillips
2/5/2012 07:58:27 pm
I agree with Hayley monoplies are major problem. Depending on what the company is if a monoplies were allowed it could even control the governemt both in this era and now.
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
May 2014
Categories
All
|