Cronyism: Rise of the Corporatist State, 1849–1929

Patrick Newman

This book is about the birth of the corporatist state in America. It did not occur instantaneously or even within a couple of years; it spanned the eight decades from the collapse of the Jacksonian Democrats in 1849 to the pervasive dominance of Wall Street and big business before the Great Depression. The evolution of the government into a powerful cartelizer of the economy—finance, transportation, manufacturing, labor, food, and drugs—required multiple stages of myriad special interests persistently lobbying to reduce competitive market pressures. It required cronyism: government intervention that benefits special interests at the expense of public interest.

Cronyism: The Rise of the Corporatist State
Meet the Author
Patrick Newman
Patrick Newman

Patrick is and assistant teaching professor of economics at the University of Tampa and Murray N. Rothbard Research Fellow at the Mises Institute. He completed his PhD in the Department of Economics at George Mason University.

Mises Wire Patrick Newman
Editor’s note: this article is a selection from Chapter 16 of Cronyism: Liberty versus Power in Early America : “Resurrecting the American System: The Growth of Imperialism.” The Texas Question...
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