Sentence:  In any event , it is obvious that the anti-trust laws did not prevent the formation of some of the greatest financial empires the world has ever known , held together by some of the most fantastic ideas , all based on the fundamental notion that a corporation <WSD>is</WSD> an individual who can trade and exchange goods without control by the government '' . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)