114

POLITICAL  ECONOMY

gation  is  needed  to  explain,  but  there  can
be  no  doubt,  as  regards  industrial  integrations, ­
  that  one  cause  is  the  large-scale
organisation  of  finance  which  has  appeared
of  late  as  a  new  and  striking  phenomenon
in  economic  life,  particularly  in  the  United
States.  The  tentative  responses  of  State
functioning  by  way  of  control  will  be  watched
with  the  deepest  interest.  It  is  impossible  to
foretell  as  yet  the  exact  mode  in  which  public
well-being  will  be  safeguarded  when  requisite.
Of  combinations  intended  to  control  the
sharing  of  wealth  between  the  factors  engaged ­
  in  producing  it,  such  as  trade  unions
and  employers’  associations  with  that  object
in  view,  mention  will  be  made  in  Chapter  IX.