In this article Professor Hyde examines in detail the use of industrial spies at a large Michigan copper mine in the early twentieth century. While many historians have argued that labor spies were powerful weapons effectively used by employers in their struggles with workers, Hyde finds in his case study of the Quincy Mining Company that spies were seldom useful in providing important labor intelligence. Instead, they inadvertently provided top management with valuable information about underground working conditions and the performance of foremen and petty bosses.

In this case study, Dr. French examines the responses to overcapacity in a mass production industry and traces the development of oligopolistic competition. Previous studies have emphasized technology and the growth of “big business,” but here the author argues that the structure of the U.S. tire industry must be understood in terms of large, medium, and small firms. He finds, moreover, that the extent of competition and cooperation was significantly influenced by the nature of the tire market. Dr. French provides new evidence on the relationships between structural factors and the dynamics of business policy, and points to the need for a more comprehensive account of the evolution and nature of oligopolistic competition.

In this article Professor Shmanske examines the history of the wire service industry with special attention to two economic peculiarities: the “public good” nature of news dissemination and the different ownership structures of the competing firms. By focusing on the interplay of the nonprofit, cooperative organizational structure of the Associated Press and the public good characteristics of news, the author provides a new and economically sound explanation for the AP's relative success. In addition, he demonstrates that many unusual institutions in the news-providing industry, particularly pricing structures, can be understood by analyzing the economic and marketing problems associated with private-sector production of a public good.

Extremely successful both as an investment and as a commercial banker, Charles E. Mitchell was identified by contemporaries as the epitome of the unscrupulous “money changers” whose speculative dealings they felt played a major role in the Crash of 1929 and the ensuing economic collapse. This portrayal has been echoed and elaborated by historians and commentators down to the present day. In this article Dr. Huertas and Dr. Silverman demonstrate that Mitchell's activities, while sometimes ill-advised, were motivated by the economic“good sense” of the day and were not attributable to either rampant immorality or ungoverned greed. At the same time, they direct the attention of economic historians to the monetary policies of the Federal Reserve system in the 1920s and 1930s—in which Mitchell also played a role—and suggest that a more potent source of the Great Depression lies therein.

From its beginnings in the private library of Pierre S. du Pont, the Hagley Museum and Library has grown into a leading resource for business historians, particularly for those interested in the development of the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. In this thorough description of the Hagley's collections, Dr. Nash demonstrates the breadth and depth of its holdings, from the papers of the eighteenth-century Physiocrats to those of New Deal and post-World War II companies and business leaders.