“Industrial Statesmen”, Robber Barons, & billionaires: wealth, power, & the politics of fortune from railroads to Silicon Valley—how the rules of capitalism shape who becomes ultra-wealthy, & what...
I think I just received full value for my subscription in this one article. I was aware of much of the history but lacked the perspective to pull it altogether into a coherent narrative. Thanks you Brad for your perceptive insights.
Quite impressive overall, with one odd historical error: Lindbergh's father was a congressman, not a senator, leaving in 1917. Wikipedia tells me he opposed the creation of the Federal Reserve, though I don't know why. As for the quote from Adam Smith, "not completely wrong" is faint praise in the extreme. And what "improvements" had the rich of Smith's time made that necessarily improved the lot of the poor? In most of Europe, living standards were declining since the era of the Black Death, thanks to the population increase. It was only in England and the Netherlands that life seemed to be growing "happier", though Smith's contemporary Dr. Johnson still felt it necessary to distribute all the "change" he had in his purse to the poor every evening "so that they may beg on". Another of Smith's contemporaries, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, was bemoaning the invention of agriculture, though he didn't put it that way, claiming that the savages of the New World were both more moral, and more fortunate, than the great mass of the European population. Your own recent book argues extensively that Smith's "improvements" barely scratched the surface of human suffering until after 1870. Otherwise, excellent!
I think I just received full value for my subscription in this one article. I was aware of much of the history but lacked the perspective to pull it altogether into a coherent narrative. Thanks you Brad for your perceptive insights.
:-)
Quite impressive overall, with one odd historical error: Lindbergh's father was a congressman, not a senator, leaving in 1917. Wikipedia tells me he opposed the creation of the Federal Reserve, though I don't know why. As for the quote from Adam Smith, "not completely wrong" is faint praise in the extreme. And what "improvements" had the rich of Smith's time made that necessarily improved the lot of the poor? In most of Europe, living standards were declining since the era of the Black Death, thanks to the population increase. It was only in England and the Netherlands that life seemed to be growing "happier", though Smith's contemporary Dr. Johnson still felt it necessary to distribute all the "change" he had in his purse to the poor every evening "so that they may beg on". Another of Smith's contemporaries, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, was bemoaning the invention of agriculture, though he didn't put it that way, claiming that the savages of the New World were both more moral, and more fortunate, than the great mass of the European population. Your own recent book argues extensively that Smith's "improvements" barely scratched the surface of human suffering until after 1870. Otherwise, excellent!
Have you read Richard White’s “Railroaded”?
No! How much should I? - B.
I’d enjoy getting your thoughts on it if you read it.
I’m not an expert on the period or the issues, but I thought it was excellent. Well worth one’s time.