Business to the Rescue:

The American Economy in the Twentieth Century

A Coolidge Foundation Conference

at the Library of Congress

January 9, 2026

Introductions: Historians and policymakers opened the conference with reflections on the Declaration

Hon. James Douglas, Trustee, Coolidge Foundation

Hon. Virginia Foxx, Congresswoman, North Carolina

Hon. French Hill, Congressman, Arkansas

Government and Business, 1900-1914: The Gilded Age of the late Nineteenth Century engendered much prosperity—and plenty of hostility. That hostility triggered a powerful policy response in the early Twentieth Century.

Moderator: Burton Folsom, Author, The Myth of the Robber Barons

Ambassador Richard Graber, President & CEO, The Bradley Foundation

James Freeman, Editorial Board, The Wall Street Journal

John Tillman, Chairman, Hall of Giants

Robert Bruner, Author, The Panic of 1907

The New Deal, World War II — and Business: Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal sparked a radical shift in the relationship between business and the government — but not every industry leader went along with this shift.

Moderator: Amity Shales, Chair, Coolidge Foundation

Alexander Field, Author, A Great Leap Forward

Hon. Todd Young, Senator, Indiana

Arthur Herman, Author, Freedom’s Forge

Garland Tucker, Trustee, Coolidge Foundation, Author, 1924

Luncheon Keynote

After 2008: Energy to the REscue

Harold Hamm

Founder & Chairman Emeritus, Continental Resources

Interviewed by Andrew Stuttaford

Editor, National Review’s Capital Matters

The Great Society: Business and Government as Providers, 1960-1980: From the 1950s on, America enjoyed record prosperity. In the Jet Age, our leaders, like so many pilots, raised their sights. Once again, the only question was whether such improvements would come from the federal government or the private sector.

Moderator: Kent Lassman, CEO, Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI)

Hendrik Meijer, Executive Chairman, Meijer Inc.

Christopher DeMuth, Trustee, Coolidge Fund

James Lucier, Coounder, Capital Alpha Partners

Diana Furchtgott-Roth, Director, Center for Energy, Climate, and Environment, and The Herbert & Joyce Morgan Fellow in Energy and Environmental Policy, The Heritage Foundation

The Next Rescue: Two Big Ideas: The beginning of the Twentieth Century brought progressivism, a shift away from traditional interpretations of the Founding documents and American law.

Discussant: Chuck DeFeo, CEO, National Review Inc. & National Review Institute

Remarks: Steve Forbes, Chairman, Forbes Media