Bethlehem Steel Case Study

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I work for the Bethlehem Steel Company founded by Charles M. Schwab. The Bethlehem Steel Company is one of the largest steel producers in the United States. This company is actually the second largest in America and the largest shipbuilder. As a worker of this company I discovered what a monopoly is along with the many difficulties of working conditions and living conditions.
A monopoly is simply when an industry or company only has one producer of certain products. Monopolies can be harmful to the economy because it allows that company to set the price of goods without considering competition or even affordable prices. When there are monopolies there are not competitors because of the simple fact that a monopoly is one company. There are not any other companies that sell the same item. This can affect the economy in a very harmful and harsh way. If there is something someone needs, but prices are outrageous, and the company only makes limited supplies of that item, society is out of luck. Having a monopoly can cause less income for the economy because of the simple fact that it is a restriction of supplies. They can be harmful because most monopolies do not provide more up-to-date products because it has nothing to which to be compared. Economists object to monopolies because they realize and understand who is “more worthy”, the producers or consumers. In my opinion, I believe that monopolies are dangerous to the economy because the majority of the time people will not have the money needed for the supplies we need to live properly.
The working conditions are horrible and there is a lot of violence present in the workforce. Often times, industrialists and workers will fight in order to gain control. Many of America’s first larg...

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...le, there are two classification divisions and some people live normal and better lives. The people with more money live way better than the poor. There is never an in-between way of living, you either live well or bad and you are either rich or poor.
In conclusion, being a worker during this time period is very challenging. Working in a monopoly is extremely hard, especially when you are responsible for the items are produced because no one else makes them. If you do not complete your daily job then you are fired and are no longer making even a small bit of money. As you can tell, us workers live in harsh conditions and we cannot afford to lost any small amount of income we may be receiving. The living conditions are the bad part. Living in such a filthy environment never gets easier, especially when I am doing all I can to just make a small income for my family.

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