ABSTRACT
§ 1. The size of ‘the cheapest unit of production’ is determined by the relative importance of (I) cost of raw materials, (2) wages, (3) standing expenses, in the several sorts of industry.—§ 2. The cheapest business unit may exceed the cheapest establishment unit. Businesses may grow beyond the unit of cheap production, seeking the largest aggregate profit. —§ 3. Trusts or combinations, largely exceeding the ‘cheapest unit,’ may arise, provided they have superior access to materials or power or transport, tariff supports or other legal privileges.—§ 4. The United States Steel Corporation illustrates the growth of a trust by lateral and vertical expansion. But the chief experiments of capitalism are in forms of federal business structure.—§ 5. The power of a trust or other monopoly over prices is always limited, by elasticity of demand and by substitution. Its control over labour, though great, is seldom absolute.
