>>8297234
RR corruption and insider deals cemented several monopolies like standard oil trust (Rockefeller). I know a bit about the Oil segment.
Control of RR allowed the elite owners to dominate industry and build monopolies by buying out competitors, or getting/forcing them into trusts (similar to a company buying another, not with cash or financing but with issuing a seller stock in the trust) [monopoly capitalism] In case of Standard Oil, SO- (esso) Rockefeller controlled 90% + of oil industry by 1890's .
His tactics would be to control 'shipping'. Oil was extracted relatively inexpensively and he would work to ensure his competitors either took stock in the SO trust for their companies (which then were merged into the trust) or he used (secret collusion) control of RR's to prevent them from shipping oil at all or at a competitive price and selling it on a free market.
Logistically he bolstered and perhaps created the teamsters union who transported barrels of oil with 'horse drawn teams'. Control of Teamsters prevented his competitors from effectively getting their oil to even the railroad depots. Teamsters would strike or refuse to ship his competitors goods, and he warned competitors if they did not sell their business to the SO Trust, they would not sell their product at all if they could not ship it. He offered a price in SO Trust stock, and advised if they did not take the deal, he would be back later but would offer less because their business would be worth less.
With the RR collusion he was a large shipper and received great rates (likely illegal contracts), he arranged deals whereby not only would he be granted great shipping rates, he also received RR kickbacks on oil shipments his competitors made. So hypothetically if he shipped 50% of all oil at 50 cents a barrel, his competitors paid one dollar and he then got a kickback of 50 cents per barrel from the RR. Thus he shipped free and competitors paid a dollar per barrel. With this deal he could greatly profit or undercut and devalue his competition to gain market share.
Notable resources to read/dig are:
Southern Improvement Company
History of Standard Oil (Tarbell)
The Prize (Yergin) 'discusses ME/ Iran, red line agreements that came later.
So RR collusion/control allowed monopolies to be gained by insiders in all industries, not in and of itself but in conjunction with other tactics the robber barons utilized like Rockefeller and the Teamsters.
Rockefeller clan likely organized the mafia commission (5 families) and remember his control was relatively unknown to even Hoffa, who Rockefeller ordered to be 187'd when he started striking the refineries.