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The Myth of the Robber Barons

Publisher: Young America's Foundation
Author: Burton W. Folsom, Jr.
Review last updated: 2009
Instant KeyPublishers InfoPricing

The Myth of the Robber Barons

This is a great book! The author divides entrepreneurs into the two categories of market and political entrepreneurs. Political entrepreneurs depend on the government for financial backing, political favors, real estate bargains, etc., while market entrepreneurs rely on the free market to accomplish their ends. The author shoots down the traditional lumping together of nineteenth- and twentieth-century capitalists under the description "robber barons" by pointing out the differences in approach between an honest businessman and a businessman who uses the government to "steal" from others. Presented in biographical story fashion, the book makes interesting reading, although the closing chapter (where the author attempts to sum things up) is superfluous. Key figures featured in the book are Cornelius Vanderbilt, James J. Hill, The Scrantons, Charles Schwab, John D. Rockefeller, and Andrew Mellon.

This book makes a great adjunct to history, government, and/or economics studies.

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  • The Myth of the Robber Barons: A New Look at the Rise of Big Business in America

    The Myth of the Robber Barons: A New Look at the Rise of Big Business in America

    Burton W. Folsom

      Instant Key

      • Suitable for: independent work but lots of fun to read aloud
        Audience:
        teens-adults
        Need for parent/teacher instruction:
        minimal
        Prep time needed:
        0
        Educational Philosophy: real book
        Religious perspective: secular

      Publisher's Info

      • Young America's Foundation

        F. M. Kirby Freedom Center
        110 Elden Street
        Herndon, Virginia 20170
        703-318-9608
        800-USA-1776
        email: yaf@yaf.org
        www.yaf.org