History of monopoly

The history of monopoly pertains to the historical tendency of a successful commercial enterprise to dominate an industry. The practice started during Advanced Industrialization with such companies as Standard Oil and the Carnegie Steel Company.

The Sherman Antitrust Act was the first Federal statute to limit cartels and monopolies, and today still forms the basis for most antitrust litigation by the United States federal government.

Recently, companies such as Microsoft have been accused by the U.S. Department of Justice of the monopolistic practice of Embrace, extend and extinguish. In addition, ExxonMobil and several other corporations have been accused of monopolizing an industry and even crushing competition.