The first in our series of Heroes of Industry is John Davison Rockefeller, arguably the most influential figure in the history of industry. He is also one of the most controversial, characterized by many historians as a dangerous “monopolist.” In the articles and lecture below, I tell the true, heroic, and inspiring story of Rockefeller’s rise to greatness—and the amazing impact it had on our quality of life.
“Rockefeller did not achieve his success through the destructive, “anticompetitive” tactics attributed to him—nor could he have under economic freedom. Rockefeller had no coercive power to banish competition or to dictate consumer prices. His sole power was his earned economicpower—which was no more and no less than his ability to refine crude oil to produce kerosene and other products better, cheaper, and in greater quantity than anyone thought possible.”It has been more than one hundred years since Ida Tarbell published her History of the Standard Oil Company. It is time for Americans to know the real history of that company and to learn its attendant and valuable lessons about capitalism.
The Real History of the Standard Oil Company (The Objective Standard), Part I of which is also available at MasterResource
Vindicating Standard Oil, 100 Years Later (The Daily Caller)
My 2008 lecture on Rockefeller for the Ayn Rand Institute
Update 2014.12.1:
You can also learn more about John Rockefeller and the Standard Oil Company in The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels, where they are mentioned in Chapter Three, and every part of which will show you why his work was nothing less than heroic.
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