I read a fair amount these days. I do it strictly for pleasure which frees me to take my time and explore a wide range of topics. While not everything I read is about investing, I find many to have relatable themes. Below is a catalog of books and papers that I consumed over the past year. For a running list of my top recommendations visit the Favorite Reads page and see prior years’ lists here.
Books The Myth of the Robber Barons: A New Look at the Rise of Big Business in America by Burton W. Folsom
Burton Folsom details the business activities of several well-known entrepreneurs in his book The Myth of the Robber Barons. He challenges the conventional wisdom that businessmen near the turn of the 20th Century succeeded by exploiting an unwilling public. Folsom divides the group into two categories: market entrepreneurs and political entrepreneurs. He shows how political entrepreneurs did, in fact, act in this way. Using special favors, they mobilized the power of government to take advantage of people. However, many did not. Market entrepreneurs like Cornelius Vanderbilt, John D. Rockefeller, James J. Hill, Andrew Mellon, Charles Schwab, and the Scranton family made their fortunes via voluntary, win-win transactions, building the U.S. into a major economic power along side.
America’s Revolutionary Mind: A Moral History of the American Revolution and the Declaration That Defined It by C. Bradley Thompson
In America’s Revolutionary Mind, C. Bradley Thompson describes how the American Revolution was much more than a war. It was the culmination of a major shift in mindset. Using the founders’ own words, Thompson shows how the American Revolution was a moral revolution
