A useful tool or a murderous one?

The prevailing economic theory and legislative practice view the process of market monopolisation as a negative phenomenon reducing market performance. However, as recently as the first half of the 20th century, monopolies were credited with increasing the efficiency of market competition, stimulating technological innovation and mitigating the negative effects of economic crises. The process of monopolisation and concentration of production was particularly intense in the building materials market. The specific consequences of the monopoly organisations (i.e. cartels, syndicates, etc. ) for the efficiency of the economy, socio-economic links in the market and state economic policy in pre-Lithuania and interwar Czechoslovakia is discussed in the book by Tomáš Gecko.