Archive for Burton W. Folsom Jr.
Burton Folsom, Jr. is a professor of history at Hillsdale College and FEE’s senior historian. He is the coauthor (with Anita Folsom) of FDR Goes to War (Simon & Schuster) and blogs at www.BurtFolsom.com.
John D. Rockefeller and His Enemies
One hundred years ago John D. Rockefeller, America’s first billionaire and the head of Standard Oil, faced a critical issue: what should he do about the criticisms of investigative journalist Ida Tarbell? To Rockefeller, the solution was simple—ignore her. He was marketing 60 percent of all oil sold in the whole world. His company was [...]
1May2008 | Burton W. Folsom Jr. | 0 comments | ContinuedMadison’s Veto Sets a Precedent
Today, when a president looks at a spending bill that has passed Congress, he typically asks, “How will this help my party gain votes?” and “What interest groups will this bring to my side?” Sometimes, when modern presidents are more philosophical, they ask, “Will this spending help the economy, or advance the nation’s interests?” Our [...]
1Jan2008 | Burton W. Folsom Jr. | 2 comments | ContinuedSubsidies Hurt Recipients, Too
More than ever, historians need to study the economic consequences of government programs. Only by analyzing the results of past government intervention can we calculate the impact of future government intervention. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) provides a useful example. Established as part of the New Deal in the 1930s, it was a favorite program [...]
1Oct2007 | Burton W. Folsom Jr. | 1 comment | ContinuedRoosevelt, the Great Depression, and the Economics of Recovery
By Elliot A. Rosen Reviewed by Burton Folsom, Jr.
1Jul2007 | Burton W. Folsom Jr. | 1 comment | ContinuedTwo Presidents, Two Philosophies, and Two Different Outcomes
Richard Weaver’s observation that “ideas have consequences” is especially valid when we study the growth of government in America. If we compare the attitudes of Woodrow Wilson and Calvin Coolidge on the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence we can see how their views on government intervention were a logical outcome of their conceptions of these documents.
1Jun2007 | Burton W. Folsom Jr. | 0 comments | ContinuedTwo Presidents, Two Philosophies, and Two Different Outcomes
In the White House, Wilson intended to be a strong president working with a “living Constitution.” He promoted the expanding of “beneficent” government into new areas. In his second year as president he concluded that shipping rates were too high, and he blessed his secretary of treasury’s plan to regulate overseas shipping rates and the companies doing the shipping.
1Jun2007 | Burton W. Folsom Jr. | 0 comments | ContinuedDeath by Public Works
Almost all historians who write on the New Deal praise Franklin Roosevelt for using government to “solve” economic problems. Often, however, these historians only tell part of the story. One example is Roosevelt’s vast public-works program. Here most historians wax eloquent on the dams built by TVA, the roads built by WPA, and the bridges [...]
1Mar2007 | Burton W. Folsom Jr. | 1 comment | ContinuedWhich New Deal Program Had a Death Rate?
Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal was often hazardous to the health of the American economy. Sometimes it was even hazardous to the health of Americans. An example is Roosevelt ‘s almost-forgotten decision in 1934 to cancel the federal airmail contracts. Here is the story. Airmail service began in 1918, and the first such flights were done [...]
1Nov2006 | Burton W. Folsom Jr. | 0 comments | ContinuedOur Presidents and the National Debt
Burton Folsom, Jr. is the Charles Kline Professor in History and Management at Hillsdale College. His book The Myth of the Robber Barons is in its fourth edition. During the last 75 years the United States has failed to balance its annual budget over 90 percent of the time. What’s worse, the government has spent money [...]
1Aug2006 | Burton W. Folsom Jr. | 44 comments | ContinuedThe Origin of American Farm Subsidies
In the United States how did we go from having no role for the federal government in farming to having government intertwined in all aspects of farming from planting to harvesting to selling crops? The Constitution is clear on the subject. Article 1, Section 8, provides no role for the federal government in regulating American [...]
1Apr2006 | Burton W. Folsom Jr. | 0 comments | ContinuedA Patriot’s History of the United States: From Columbus’s Great Discovery to the War on Terror
U.S. history textbooks are important because they are a benchmark of what we as a nation value in our past and what we envision for our future. After thumbing through a recent batch of texts, David McCullough, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, concluded that “most of them, it appears to me, have been published in [...]
14Jan2006 | Burton W. Folsom Jr. | 0 comments | ContinuedFrom Kleenex to Zippers: The Unpredictable Results of Entrepreneurs
The 1920s was a decade that taught us many lessons
in economicsperhaps foremost among
them is that cutting tax rates encouraged entrepreneurs
to invest in a variety of revolutionary products,
from radios to refrigerators.
Immaculate Planners or Messy Entrepreneurs?
“We need help from government. We need to hire experts to pick winning companies, and then we can subsidize them to come and bring more jobs to our state.” From time to time, for almost two centuries, that has been the battle cry from states across the nation. Most recently, Governor Jennifer Granholm of Michigan [...]
1Sep2005 | Burton W. Folsom Jr. | 0 comments | ContinuedThe Liberty Tradition Among Black Americans
Slavery and free institutions can never live peaceably together,” Frederick Douglass observed. “Liberty . . . must either overthrow slavery, or be itself overthrown by slavery.” Douglass, black America’s most renowned spokesman, made this argument during the Civil War. But what about after the war? Was it proper for the government afterward to intervene and [...]
1May2005 | Burton W. Folsom Jr. | 0 comments | ContinuedThomas Garrett and the Underground Railroad
On March 27, 1857, an elderly Quaker abolitionist named Thomas Garrett climbed the stairs to his office in Wilmington, Delaware, and penned the following letter to a fellow conductor on the underground railroad: “I have been very anxious for some time past, to hear what has become of Harriet Tubman. . . . Has thee [...]
1Feb2005 | Burton W. Folsom Jr. | 1 comment | ContinuedThe Costs of Segregation to the Detroit Tigers
Many people know the remarkable and inspiring story of Jackie Robinson and how he endured racial insults to integrate major league baseball in 1947. In Robinson’s first year alone he won the rookie-of-the-year award and led his Brooklyn Dodgers to the National League pennant. But Robinson was only part of the integration story. What about [...]
1Dec2003 | Burton W. Folsom Jr. | 1 comment | ContinuedAndrew Johnson and the Constitution
Before 1998 “Andrew Johnson” used to be the answer to the question “Who was the only U.S. president to be impeached?” But Andrew Johnson, the self-educated tailor, deserves to be remembered more for his ideas, especially his defense of the Constitution in a troubled time. Johnson was born in poverty in North Carolina in 1808 [...]
1Sep2003 | Burton W. Folsom Jr. | 0 comments | Continued-
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