This book traces the historical development of the network utilities sector in Australia (communications, rail, gas, electricity, water supply, and sewerage services). It looks across industries, time periods and the state and federal jurisdictions, to identify what motivated the various governments to establish these enterprises and what issues arose. The book is therefore informed by the relationship between politics and society on the one hand and economic history on the other; as well as the efforts of governments in Australia to promote economic growth and the wealth of Australians. The main focus of the book is to identify and analyse the following two main questions: (i) What were the main drivers and motivations for governments establishing government-owned business in the network utilities sector? (ii) To what degree were these government-owned businesses successful at achieving the aims of these governments? In doing so the inherent characteristics of these industries are identified, in terms of their need for rights of way, network effects, the monopoly characteristics, and the potential for stimulating growth.

Conventional wisdom attributes winning to having the best products at the lowest prices, a great brand, superior management and the lowest overhead. This book shows you how to win and hold on to that crucial market segment that can make you rich. It provides a different way to think, take action and stay ahead of the game.

This book, first published in 1928, was written at a time when the tendency in industry was towards the formation of large combines. With competition growing as markets and methods of communication grew, many manufacturers considered their only option was to unite in self-defence, setting up a movement that restrictive legislation was unable to check. This book analyses the proper relations between monopolistic combines and the State, and was the first to examine the German experience of organised monopoly, and the means used to prevent it from becoming a mere protection for inefficient producers.

Nursing, Physician Control, and the Medical Monopoly Historical Perspectives on Gendered Inequality in Roles, Rights, and Range of Practice Thetis M. Group and Joan I. Roberts A history of physicians' efforts to dominate the healthcare system. Nursing, Physician Control, and the Medical Monopoly traces the efforts by physicians over time to achieve a monopoly in healthcare, often by subordinating nurses -- their only genuine competitors. Attempts by nurses to reform many aspects of healthcare have been repeatedly opposed by physicians whose primary interest has been to achieve total control of the healthcare "system," often to the detriment of patients' health and safety. Thetis M. Group and Joan I. Roberts first review the activities of early women healers and nurses and examine nurse-physician relations from the early 1900s on. The sexist domination of nursing by medicine was neither haphazard nor accidental, but a structured and institutionalized phenomenon. Efforts by nurses to achieve greater autonomy were often blocked by hospital administrators and organized medicine. The consolidation of the medical monopoly during the 1920s and 1930s, along with the waning of feminism, led to the concretization of stereotyped gender roles in nursing and medicine. The growing unease in nurse-physician relations escalated from the 1940s to the 1960s; the growth and complexity of the healthcare industry, expanding scientific knowledge, and increasing specialization by physicians all created heavy demands on nurses. Conflict between organized medicine and nursing entered a public, open phase in the late 1960s and 1970s, when medicine unilaterally created the physician's assistant, countered by nursing's development of the advanced nurse practitioner. But gender stereotypes remained central to nurse-physician relations in the 1980s and into the 1990s. Finally, Group and Roberts examine the results of the medical monopoly, from the impact on patients' health and safety, to the development of HMOs and the current overpriced, poorly coordinated, and fragmented healthcare system. Thetis M. Group is Professor Emerita at Syracuse University, where she was Dean of the College of Nursing for 10 years, and an adjunct faculty member at the University of Utah College of Nursing. She is co-author of Feminism and Nursing and has published numerous articles in professional nursing journals. Joan I. Roberts, social psychologist, is Professor Emerita at Syracuse University. A pioneer in women's studies in higher education, she is co-author of Feminism and Nursing and author of numerous books and articles on gender issues and racial and sex discrimination. June 2001 352 pages, 6 1/8 x 9 1/4, index, append. cloth 0-253-33926-X $29.95 s / £22.95

In this book, Jack Banks examines the historical development of music video as a commodity and analyzes the existing structures within which music video is produced, distributed, and exhibited on its premier music channel, MTV. }In August 1981, Music Televisionnow popularly known as MTVwas launched. Within a matter of years it revitalized a struggling record industry; made the careers of leading pop stars like Madonna, Boy George, Cyndi Lauper, and Duran Duran; infiltrated traditional network television and the movie industry; revolutionized the advertising industry; and stimulated purchases in several markets, most notably fashion apparel. The reach of MTV has proven long and profitable. In this book, Jack Banks examines the historical development of music video as a commodity and analyzes the existing structures within which music video is produced, distributed, and exhibited on its premier music channel, MTV. Who controls MTV? What part do record companies play in the financing and production of music video? How do the power brokers in the business affect the ideological content of music video? Given the tight sphere of influence within the music industry, what are the future trends for music video and for artistic freedom of expression? Banks tackles these questions in an intelligent, lively, and sophisticated investigation into one of the most influential media enterprises of our society. }

"An urgent and witty manifesto, Monopolies Suck shows how monopoly power is harming everyday Americans and practical ways we can all fight back."--