At long last, Cronyism: Rise of the Corporatist State, 1849-1929 is finally OUT! Cronyism (part deux) threads together the myriad big businesses that sought to capture government for their own benefit and created the corporatist state in the US. From railroad magnates to Wall Street titans, from the origins of the FDA to the founding of the Fed, the book covers special-interest policies from the advent of the Civil War to the eve of the Great Depression. I am deeply honored that Nobel Laureate Thomas J. Sargent wrote the foreword, wherein he lauds the discipline of economic history, Rothbard’s contributions to the field, and Cronyism-the-series’ place in that important tradition. Available now on Amazon (link below). Premium print editions, audiobook, online course, and podcast from @mises all coming soon!

Excited that my new paper on sticky prices in the Independent Review @IndependentInst is now available for free download! (independent.org/wp-content/u…) Competition incentivizes entrepreneurs to flexibly adjust prices and wages when there are shortages and surpluses. Are they perfect? No, of course not. But remember, prices adjust more than we realize--the posted prices are often not the actual prices transactions occur at! Government interventions restrict competition, which rigidifies prices and wages. Examples include licensing laws, minimum wages, union laws, compulsory publicity laws, anti-"unfair" price cutting regulations, etc. They are examples of corporatism, the system of government enforced cartels and monopolies. Theory is put to practice by investigating American history from the Civil War to the Great Depression. Prices and wages used to be flexible and demand shocks led to brief recessions (the exception was the Panic of 1893, which was partially caused by a currency crisis that subdued investor certainty). But with the advent of corporatism in the early 1900s, prices and wages rigidified. Government induced sticky wages was the main reason why the Great Depression was so severe.

Thanks for having me on! It was a pleasure discussing AI cronyism, the rise of socialism, and our government’s unsustainable fiscal position.

Looking forward to it! If you are interested in the history of special interest policies and the Cronyism series, there is no better way to enjoy your Saturday afternoon (I think)

Thanks for having me on! History has a lot to teach us, and the corporatist state created in the early 1900s is stronger than ever. Government enforced cartels and monopolies are alive and well in banking, industry, healthcare, transportation, and more.

Thanks @BobMurphyEcon and @mises for having me on the Human Action podcast to discuss Cronyism II. If you want to start your weekend by learning about Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle, the Federal Reserve and World War I, and more, this is the podcast for you! youtu.be/jP8tuuMZa8U?is=kY5_…

Thank you so much for an excellent review! Really appreciate the great summary and the kind words.

Murray N. Rothbard: The Making of an Austrian Economist is now available for purchase! Available on Amazon, and premium editions available @mises (see links below). a.co/d/0il3FpQ3 store.mises.org/Hardcover-P1…

Excited to announce that I'll be leading a virtual @mises book club on Cronyism: Liberty versus Power in Early America, 1607-1849 this fall! Join me as we discuss the main themes and case studies of the period, like the Constitution as a coup, the Hamiltonian Federalists, the Jacksonians' war against the central bank, and more! The book club is a great way to learn early American history, which is all the more relevant given the 250th founding of the US! The book club is open to undergrad and graduate students and will run every other Tuesday (9/1, 9/15/ 9/29, 10/13) at 5 PM Eastern. Apply now! mises.org/events/fall-2026-v…

The free online PDF and eBook of Cronyism now available on @mises! (audiobook coming soon). mises.org/library/book/crony…

Premium print edition hardcover and paperback copies of Cronyism are now available from the @mises bookstore! store.mises.org/Cronyism-Ris…

Grateful to Charles Burris for mentioning Cronyism: Rise of the Corporatist State in his article on “The Great Barbecue.” The Great BBQ refers to the rich disbursement of special privileges in the Gilded Age (which really began during the Civil War). As Cronyism explains, the mentality during the Great BBQ was “eat or be eaten.” The most notorious case was the railroads, who fought greedily over land grants and subsidies. As one congressman observed: “the galleries and lobbies of every Legislature . . . are thronged with [railroad] men seeking to procure an advantage.” lewrockwell.com/lrc-blog/the…

Thank you David Gordon for the informative review of Cronyism: Rise of the Corporatist State! He is right to concentrate on Abraham Lincoln, railroad attorney turned president: As Lincoln told his law partner William Herndon upon leaving for the presidency, “the election of a President makes no change in the firm of Lincoln & Herndon.” Lincoln wasn’t lying: his Republican controlled government implemented the neo-American System of protective tariffs, railroad land grant subsidies, and a quasi-central banking system to benefit manufacturers, railroad promoters, and Wall Street.

Grateful for your kind remarks. The study of cronyism is very relevant for the modern world. Yes, volume 3 on the warfare welfare state is planned and will be written!

Newman’s books on cronyism are essential to understanding the regulatory capture that is ubiquitous today. There’s no wonder why Justice Thomas quoted two Rothbard books that Newman worked on. I’ve heard he plans on writing a third volume on modern cronyism—highly anticipate!