ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the factors and at the ideas of some of the people who were most concerned with the creation of the British government's first merger broker. It indicates why mergers came to be regarded as a fruitful area for positive government intervention. Government intervention in industry dates back as far as the Industrial Revolution and some would argue even further: Centuries ago the economy began to evolve from a "natural economy" in which money did not exist to a "money economy" in which it did. The chapter examines some of the more specific arguments from which the concept of an Industrial Reorganisation Corporation (IRC) emerged. One of the main objectives in creating the IRC was to establish a body which would attempt to move at least some of this activity further in the direction of improving industrial performance.
