Business leaders in the 1800s tried to eliminate competition by forming pools, trusts, monopolies, and through vertical and horizontal integration. Many companies organized pools to keep prices at a certain level, that is, they tried to keep prices from falling. Some companies formed trusts. A trust is a combination of firms or corporations formed by a legal agreement, especially to reduce competition. A monopoly is achieved when a company has total control of a type of industry. A company that is vertically integrated owns all parts of the industrial process. By doing so, these companies found it easier to control costs. Companies that are horizontally integrated have grown by buying its competitors. All of the aforementioned are ways companies or corporations have tried to control costs and eliminate competition.
