“ More striking still, it appeared that, if the process of concentration goes on at the same rate, at the end of another century we shall have all American industry controlled by a dozen corporations and run by perhaps a hundred men. ”
Franklin D. Roosevelt, Looking Forward (1933). copy citation
| Author | Franklin D. Roosevelt |
|---|---|
| Source | Looking Forward |
| Topic | industry concentration corporations |
| Date | 1933 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | https://gutenberg.ca/ebooks/rooseveltfd-lookingforward/rooseveltfd-looki... |
Context
“Recently a careful study was made of the concentration of business in the United States. It showed that our economic life was dominated by some six hundred-odd corporations, who controlled[Pg 32] two-thirds of American industry. Ten million small business men divided the other third.
More striking still, it appeared that, if the process of concentration goes on at the same rate, at the end of another century we shall have all American industry controlled by a dozen corporations and run by perhaps a hundred men. Put plainly, we are steering a steady course toward economic oligarchy, if we are not there already.
Clearly all this calls for a reappraisal of values. A mere builder of more industrial plants, a creator of more railway systems, an organiser of more corporations, is as likely to be a danger as a help.” source
More striking still, it appeared that, if the process of concentration goes on at the same rate, at the end of another century we shall have all American industry controlled by a dozen corporations and run by perhaps a hundred men. Put plainly, we are steering a steady course toward economic oligarchy, if we are not there already.
Clearly all this calls for a reappraisal of values. A mere builder of more industrial plants, a creator of more railway systems, an organiser of more corporations, is as likely to be a danger as a help.” source
Meaning and analysis
