Chapter 4. The Failure to Monopolize

Cronyism: Rise of the Corporatist State, 1849–1929

09/15/2026 Patrick Newman

Beginning with the Morrill Tariff of 1861, Patrick Newman documents protection sought and monopoly repeatedly denied. Market competition kept defeating attempts to corner markets—real GDP rose 184 percent between 1870 and 1890 while retail prices fell 30 percent and real wages rose—driving established firms back to Washington for higher tariffs, the Billion Dollar Congress, and an antitrust law deliberately left weak and vague.

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