Burton W. Folsom Jr. (born 1947, in

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

) 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 race; as well as the st ...

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. It was founded in 1844 by Abolitionism, abolitionists known as Free Will Baptists. Its missio ...

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 ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

from the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...

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

libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's en ...

''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 addition to the main campus in Calloway County in southwestern Kentucky, Murray State operates extended campuses offering upper level and graduate courses in Paducah, ...

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 () in Midland, Michigan, is the largest U.S. state-based free market think tank in the United States. The Mackinac Center conducts policy research and educational programs. The Center sponsors MichiganVotes. ...

, both

free market In economics, a free market is an economic 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 government or any ot ...

think tanks A think tank, or 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-governmental org ...

, and a frequent guest of the

organization

Foundation for Economic Education The Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) is an American conservative, libertarian economic think tank. Founded in 1948 in New York City, FEE is now headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. It is a member of the State Policy Network. FEE offers ...

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 operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, private ...

in the social developments of the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

and the

Gilded Age In United States history, the Gilded Age was an era extending roughly from 1877 to 1900, which was sandwiched between the Reconstruction era and the Progressive Era. It was a time of rapid economic growth, especially in the Northern and Wes ...

. 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, ind ...

. Folsom identifies the following people as market entrepreneurs: * John Jacob Astor * James J. Hill *

John D. Rockefeller John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American business magnate and philanthropist. He has been widely considered the wealthiest American of all time and the richest person in modern history. Rockefeller was ...

Charles M. Schwab Charles Michael Schwab (February 18, 1862 – September 18, 1939) was an American steel magnate. Under his leadership, Bethlehem Steel The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsyl ...

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 steambo ...

: steamboat inventor and submarine designer. *

Thomas McKenney Thomas Loraine McKenney (21 March 1785 – 19 February 1859) was a United States official who served as Superintendent of Indian Affairs from 1824–1830. McKenny was born on March 21, 1785, in Hopewell, Maryland. He was the oldest of fi ...

Henry Villard Henry Villard (April 10, 1835 – November 12, 1900) was an American journalist and financier who was an early president of the Northern Pacific Railway. Born and raised by Ferdinand Heinrich Gustav Hilgard in the Rhenish Palatinate of the Kin ...

Warren Buffett Warren Edward Buffett ( ; born August 30, 1930) is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is currently the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is one of the most successful investors in the world and has a net ...

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

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' 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 the author William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief ...

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

New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Con ...

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

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. 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 PragerU is an American advocacy group that creates videos promoting a conservative viewpoint on various political, economic, and sociological topics. It was co-founded by Allen Estrin and talk show host and writer Dennis Prager in 2009. Despit ...

. 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 Lawrence "Larry" W. Reed (born September 29, 1953), also known as Larry Reed, is president emeritus of the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE), where he has served as the Humphreys Family Senior Fellow since May 2019. Before joining FEE, Re ...

, 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