MONOPOLY: Tightest of All

Of all the world's tight trade combinations, the British-controlled diamond cartel is the best textbook example of how to control production and fix prices. U.S. businessmen have long been aware that if this cartel could be splintered, diamonds might become cheap enough to: 1) weigh down their wives' fingers; 2) drastically cut the cost of diamond drills, grinding wheels and other industrial tools. Impressed by these facts, Attorney General Francis Biddle last week set out to break up the cartel.

In Manhattan, he brought antitrust charges against famed De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd., its diamond-selling subsidiary, Diamond Trading Co. Ltd., Belgium's...

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