Burton W. Folsom Jr. (born 1947, in

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

) is an American

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

and author who held the Charles F. Kline chair in history and management at

Hillsdale College Hillsdale College is a Private university, private, Conservatism in the United States, conservative, Christian liberal arts college in Hillsdale, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1844 by members of the Free Will Baptists. Women were admi ...

from 2003 until his retirement in December 2016.

Biography

Folsom received his B.A. from Indiana University in 1970, his M.A. from the University of Nebraska in 1973, and his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

from the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

in 1976. Since 1988 he has edited ''Continuity: A Journal of History''. He is a frequent columnist in the

libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

''Freeman'' magazine and also contributes to other publications, writing in favor of free market economics and limited government. He taught American history at

Murray State University Murray State University (MSU) is a public university in Murray, Kentucky, in the Southern United States. In addition to the main campus in Calloway County in southwestern Kentucky, Murray State operates extended campuses offering upper-level an ...

in Kentucky from 1976 to 1994. Folsom is a former associate of the Free Enterprise Institute and the

Mackinac Center for Public Policy The Mackinac Center for Public Policy () is a think tank headquartered in Midland, Michigan. Through research and programs, the Mackinac Center supports lower taxes, reduced regulatory authority for state agencies, right-to-work laws, school ...

, both

free market In economics, a free market is an economic market (economics), system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of ...

think tanks A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-gov ...

, and a frequent guest of the

organization

Foundation for Economic Education The Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative, Libertarianism in the United States, libertarian economics, economic think tank. Founded in 1946 in New York City, FEE is now headquartere ...

Academic contributions

Folsom has written several books that argue against commonly held views about the role of

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

in the social developments of the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...

and the

Gilded Age In History of the United States, United States history, the Gilded Age is the period from about the late 1870s to the late 1890s, which occurred between the Reconstruction era and the Progressive Era. It was named by 1920s historians after Mar ...

. He believes the term robber barons is a misnomer, and that many leaders in big business were constructive visionaries who benefited consumers and were integral to the development of industry. In his book ''The Myth of the Robber Barons'', Folsom distinguishes between ''political entrepreneurs'', who ran inefficient businesses supported by government favors, and ''market entrepreneurs'', who succeeded by providing better and lower-cost products or services, usually while facing vigorous

competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indi ...

. Folsom identifies the following people as market entrepreneurs: *

John Jacob Astor John Jacob Astor (born Johann Jakob Astor; July 17, 1763 – March 29, 1848) was a German-born American businessman, merchant, real estate mogul, and investor. Astor made his fortune mainly in a fur trade monopoly, by exporting History of opiu ...

James J. Hill James Jerome Hill (September 16, 1838 – May 29, 1916) was a Canadian-American railway director. He was the chief executive officer of a family of lines headed by the Great Northern Railway, which served a substantial area of the Upper Midwest ...

John D. Rockefeller John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He was one of the List of richest Americans in history, wealthiest Americans of all time and one of the richest people in modern hist ...

* Charles M. Schwab *

Cornelius Vanderbilt Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794 – January 4, 1877), nicknamed "the Commodore", was an American business magnate who built his wealth in railroads and shipping. After working with his father's business, Vanderbilt worked his way into lead ...

He regards these people as political entrepreneurs: *

Robert Fulton Robert Fulton (November 14, 1765 – February 24, 1815) was an American engineer and inventor who is widely credited with developing the world's first commercially successful steamboat, the (also known as ''Clermont''). In 1807, that steamboat ...

: steamboat inventor and submarine designer. * Thomas McKenney *

Henry Villard Henry Villard (April 10, 1835 – November 12, 1900) was a German-American journalist and financier who was an influential leader and the sixth president of the Northern Pacific Railway (1881–1884) which completed its trans-continental route d ...

Warren Buffett Warren Edward Buffett ( ; born August 30, 1930) is an American investor and philanthropist who currently serves as the chairman and CEO of the conglomerate holding company Berkshire Hathaway. As a result of his investment success, Buffett is ...

Folsom writes about economics and US history for several large publications, including ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'' and the ''

National Review ''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief is Rich L ...

''. In a 2010 ''Wall Street Journal'' editorial, Folsom argues that the

New Deal The New Deal was a series of wide-reaching economic, social, and political reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, in response to the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depressi ...

did not contribute to economic recovery and may have actually exacerbated the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. Folsom argues that the New Deal did little more than trade temporary poverty relief for crippling tax rates and mountains of debt, and that the post-war recovery is best attributed to the rollback of taxes and regulations imposed under the New Deal. Folsom has created several short videos for the conservative educational website Prager University. His lessons focus on the history of American economic development and entrepreneurs such as

:
Why Is America So Rich?

Why Private Investment Works and Government Investment Doesn't

Rockefeller: The Richest American Who Ever Lived

Bibliography

Articles

* "The Politics of Elites: Prominence and Party in Davidson County, Tennessee, 1835–1861." ''Journal of Southern History'' 39.3 (1973): 359–378
online
* "Party Formation and Development in Jacksonian America: The Old South." ''Journal of American Studies'' 7.3 (1973): 217–229. * "Entrepreneurs and City Growth: Scranton and Carbondale as Case Studies." ''Business and Economic History'' (1980): 124–127. * "Like Fathers, Unlike Sons: The Fall of the Business Elite in Scranton, Pennsylvania, 1880–1920." ''Pennsylvania History'' 47.4 (1980): 291–309
online
* "Tinkerers, Tipplers, and Traitors: Ethnicity and Democratic Reform in Nebraska during the Progressive Era." ''Pacific Historical Review'' 50.1 (1981): 53–75.
online
* "Immigrant Voters and the Nonpartisan League in Nebraska, 1917–1920." ''Great Plains Quarterly'' (1981): 159–168.
online
* "The Minimum Wage's Disreputable Origins." ''Wall Street Journal'' (1998): A-22. * Boudreaux, Donald J., and Burton W. Folsom. "Microsoft and Standard Oil: Radical lessons for antitrust reform." ''The Antitrust Bulletin'' 44.3 (1999): 555–576. * McCormick, Blaine, and Burton W. Folsom. "A survey of business historians on America's greatest entrepreneurs." ''Business History Review'' 77.4 (2003): 703–716.

Books

* ''Entrepreneurs vs. the State'' (1989) * ''The Myth of the Robber Barons'' (1993) * ''Empire Builders: How Michigan Entrepreneurs Helped Make America Great'' (1998) * ''No More Free Markets or Free Beer: The Progressive Era in Nebraska, 1900–1924'' (1999) * ''Urban Capitalists: Entrepreneurs and City Growth in Pennsylvania's Lackawanna and Lehigh Regions 1800–1920'' (2005) * ''New Deal or Raw Deal?: How FDR's Economic Legacy Has Damaged America'' (2008) * ''FDR Goes to War: How Expanded Executive Power, Spiraling National Debt, and Restricted Civil Liberties Shaped Wartime America'', 2011, * ''A Republic – If We Can Keep It'' (with Lawrence Reed, CreateSpace, 2012)

Footnotes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Folsom, Burton W. Jr. 1947 births Living people 21st-century American historians American libertarians Libertarian historians American political writers American male non-fiction writers Hillsdale College faculty Murray State University faculty University of Pittsburgh alumni Mackinac Center for Public Policy