Today's corporations are not like they were back in the 1930s, for the mixture of such, and the size of such, and the economic impact of such of those corporations, is far, far different today, then it was back then. For instance, as pointed out by author Kevin Phillips, "Of the twenty largest US corporations in 1937, eight were railroads and seven were utilities." This signifies that back in 1937, that 75% of the largest US corporations, were essentially those that provided a needed service to the general public, such as electricity, water, sewage, and the like; as well as our interstate transportation system which was dependent upon railroads to transport needed goods from one area of the country to another in an efficient way, of which, this was accomplished before our present age of an interstate highway system, and thereby those ubiquitous semi-trucks. So then, back in 1937, the largest companies were to a large extent those corporations that were essential to the everyday life of Americans, as a whole.
However, a look at today's largest corporations, tells us that none of these top twenty corporations are utilities and none of them are railroads, either. To a certain degree, that isn't surprising, since utilities are typically publically regulated for the public good and hence their profits are controlled by that regulation; and railroads while still vital, have been for over a century regulated by governmental authorities for the fair benefit of that society; along with the fact that these railroads have seen their previous exclusive domain being subject to in subsequent years by the replacement of other means of transportation, such as semi-trucks, airplanes, and large container ships. The thing is that previously the largest corporations in this country were for the most part, companies that were regulated by governmental authorities for the good of the country, so as to be fair to the public -- therefore because of this the public was not unfairly gouged by pricing and restrictions so imposed by those corporate entities utilizing monopoly type powers without being subject to containment by corresponding governmental restraint, rules and regulations.
This signifies that today's gargantuan corporations have never had it better in the sense of being able to extract as much profit as they so desire, with little or no pushback by governmental authorities or regulations, so of. It then comes as no real surprise that in industries in which there are no real constraints so imposed, that those corporations are able to become bigger, more powerful, more profitable, and more influential in regards to essentially directing government policy, so that the mantra of said government seems to be what is good for those companies is good for this country; whereas, in truth, what is good for those companies, is primarily good for those that are at the highest echelons of those corporations, as well as the financiers and investors, so of.
Regrettably, this government has ceded more and more control of the business of America, to that which is unelected, and woefully under-regulated, in some sort of laissez-faire mindset which benefits those corporations enormously at the expense of the general public, at large; for the more profit that these corporations so make, is more that they have successfully extracted from the pockets of everyday Americans, in which, this government has fallen asleep at the helm, without recognizing its fiduciary duty to level the playing field, in fairness to all.