Journal of Political Economy Vol. 23 No. 10 1915
The Cartels in War Time
Abstract
From the viewpoint of political economy the present European war has produced numerous interesting and important developments. Theories which in the past had gained quite universal acceptance have during the past year been put to an acid test. A restandardization and readaptation have become necessary with respect to various conceptions in the realm of economy, which have hitherto been quite firmly rooted in the minds of the public, as well as of scholars. Of the economic organizations throughout the world, perhaps none have during the past twelve months undergone a more crucial test than those of Germany, the marvelous strength and efficiency of which today challenge the admiration of even those who in the past have observed them more or less closely. The gigantic operations of Germany's army, railroads, and banks constitute truly brilliant achievements of governmental economic efficiency. In the field of private (individual) economy, German commerce and industry are producing results equally amazing. The factor which here has proved to be the backbone of Germany's industrial life is the German cartels, those unique, co-operative organizations which, in times of peace, overcame that bellum omnium contra omnes so baneful to commercial activity and development, and in its stead succeeded in weaving together an economic organism, the solidarity of which not only placed Germany in the front ranks among the leading commercial countries, but also has proved itself a tower of strength during the present war. The German cartels are co-operative combines of independent enterprises in allied industries for the purpose of regulating demand and supply and centralizing the business management in the mutual interest. With respect to their outer organization, as well as from a legal point of view, German cartels differ essentially from our so-called trusts in that they lack the permanent and organic amalgamation of the latter, and, unlike our trusts, are not capitalistic organizations, but essentially economic, co-operative enterprises. It can be readily seen that the cartels, numbering about six hundred, afford the government a most handy and welcome means for controlling
- DOI
- 10.1086/252743
- Volume
- 23
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 990-993
- Language
- en
- Sources
- semanticscholar openalex crossref