The Objective Standard Blog

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

The Monopoly Myth: The Case of Standard Oil

Posted by ARC Media at 11:34 PM

Who: Alex Epstein, analyst at the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights

What: A talk followed by a Q&A

Where & When:

Duke University, Durham, NC—March 30, 2009, 12:15pm
Duke Law School Building, Room 3043 [map]
Contact: Beth Laughton, Elizabeth.Laughton@law.duke.edu
University of North Carolina, Charlotte, NC—March 31, 2009, 7:00pm
Fretwell Building, Room 100 [map]
Contact: James Wadsworth, jwadswor@uncc.edu
University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA—April 1, 2009, 7:30pm
New Cabell Hall, Room 138 [map]
Contact: Sara Sherris, ss5dd@virginia.edu
University of Maryland, College Park, MD—April 2, 2009, 8:00pm
Adele H. Stamp Student Union, Benjamin Banneker Room [map]
Contact: David Crawford, david.crawford@gmail.com

These events are open to the public. Admission is FREE.

Description: America’s experiment with laissez-faire capitalism in the 1800s was a disaster, historians tell us, because businessmen used anticompetitive tactics to form giant, invincible monopolies. The textbook example of these evils of Big Business is John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Trust. In an era before government regulations and antitrust laws, the story goes, Rockefeller wielded market power to squelch innovative competitors and jack up consumer prices at will.

The textbooks need to be rewritten, argues Alex Epstein of the Ayn Rand Center. In his talk, Epstein tells the true story of Rockefeller’s rise to market dominance. Rockefeller’s success was not based on shady practices but on his company’s remarkable ability to bring the best oil to millions of Americans at the cheapest prices. Did Standard Oil abolish competition? Far from it. The company’s success actually made the oil market far more competitive, innovative, and productive. The story of Standard Oil, it turns out, does not reveal evils of Big Business but illustrates its great virtues.

For more information surrounding all ARI campus club talks, including detailed campus maps and campus club contact information, please visit www.aynrand.org/education_campus_calendar.

Bio: Alex Epstein has a BA in philosophy from Duke University and is an analyst focusing on business issues at the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights.

Please note: The above events is organized, hosted and sponsored by individual campus clubs. Although ARI provides financial support, educational materials and speakers for eligible student clubs, campus clubs are organizations independent of ARI.

Labels: Announcements, Business and Economics, Events