RealClearPolitics - Articles - The Next Capitalism
RealClearPolitics - Articles - The Next Capitalism
Synopsis
Capitalism has changed throughout the ages, and is currently undergoing another transformation.
Comment
The article lays out the past well, but doesn't offer even a straw man of the future. Regardless, it is worth a read for the questions it raises.
Money quote
When he died in 1848, John Jacob Astor was America's richest man, leaving a fortune of $20 million that had been earned mainly from real estate and fur trading. Despite his riches, Astor's business was mainly a one-man show. He employed only a handful of workers, most of them clerks. This was typical of his time, when the farmer, the craftsman, the small partnership and the independent merchant ruled the economy. Only 50 years later, almost everything had changed. Giant industrial enterprises -- making steel, producing oil, refining sugar and much more -- had come to dominate.
Synopsis
Capitalism has changed throughout the ages, and is currently undergoing another transformation.
Comment
The article lays out the past well, but doesn't offer even a straw man of the future. Regardless, it is worth a read for the questions it raises.
Money quote
When he died in 1848, John Jacob Astor was America's richest man, leaving a fortune of $20 million that had been earned mainly from real estate and fur trading. Despite his riches, Astor's business was mainly a one-man show. He employed only a handful of workers, most of them clerks. This was typical of his time, when the farmer, the craftsman, the small partnership and the independent merchant ruled the economy. Only 50 years later, almost everything had changed. Giant industrial enterprises -- making steel, producing oil, refining sugar and much more -- had come to dominate.
posted by Quacker | 12:13 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home