Cartels

Industrial agreements become a question of public power in Wendell Berge's account of international cartels. Writing as head of the United States Justice Department's Antitrust Division, Berge explains how arrangements between companies can restrict production, keep prices high and limit access to new technology. He connects these business practices with the prospects for economic opportunity and democratic government, drawing on congressional investigations and public records from antitrust cases.

The discussion moves from the history of industrial trusts to patents, medicines, vitamins, titanium and optical instruments. Letters and company documents give the argument its concrete detail. In the titanium section, Berge examines wartime shipments and proposals to transfer patent ownership between international partners. Readers interested in the history of competition policy will find an official's forceful case for antitrust enforcement, supported by examples of how commercial agreements reach across national borders.