The Standard Oil Story
Here is a fascinating lecture on John D Rockefeller and Standard Oil:
Viewing this requires an investment in time of nearly an hour - although you could probably skip the first 15 minutes. This lecturer - Larry Reed - is an Professor of Economics and he meditates on the mythology of the Robber Barrons and pokes holes in what we have been taught as scripture: that Rockefeller became rich by nefarious means and that the rest of us were screwed along the way. And that is why the Standard Oil company needed to be broken up. It was a "monopoly" and it was bad for the economy.
Could it be that he was just better at what he did than his competitors? Is it possible that the country as a whole benefited from the lower prices and ready supply that his efficient production methods provided? Very interesting, contrarian view.
