Business to the Rescue
By the Editors
This editors’ note appears in the Summer 2026 issue of the Coolidge Review. Request a free copy of a future print issue.
When scholars these days draw a picture of American economic history, they focus on Washington—its data points, and its politicians. Energetic statesmen are the heroes in the images. The villains are business figures—Robber Barons, old and new.
But this is postmillennial cartoon.
For the record itself has often been the opposite. In moments of crisis, from the Panic of 1907 to the Great Depression to the stagflation of the 1970s, our government floundered. In moments of prosperity—the 1960s—ambitious statesmen undermined that prosperity. Businesses frequently did more than government to repair damage.
Hence the cover of this issue of the Coolidge Review, drawn by Paul Rivoche.
If history is to cartoon, let it at least cartoon both sides.
But America’s record also warrants a deeper look than the cartoon medium permits. And that is precisely what the Coolidge Foundation provided when it convened a national conference in January. Some 150 students joined world-class academics, lawmakers, and entrepreneurs at the Library of Congress to delve into the record of the twentieth century.
Scholars Burton Folsom and Robert Bruner looked at the private sector’s achievements, including how Pierpont Morgan halted the Panic of 1907. The inimitable Arthur Herman revealed how the Motor City helped prepare a dangerously unprepared America for World War II. Continental Resources founder Harold Hamm discussed the energy sector’s role in pulling us out of the doldrums after the 2008 financial crisis.
The Summer 2026 issue of the Coolidge Review contains articles by these speakers and other scholars, statesmen, and thinkers—including some members of our young Coolidge Community. Judge the facts for yourself. Portray history as you find it. And feel free to paint in every nuance.
This editors’ note appears in the Summer 2026 issue of the Coolidge Review. Request a free copy of a future print issue.