Rockefeller, Robber Barons, And Bernie Sanders

While Uber, Airbnb, and Netflix are very recent, IT-based examples of the process of creative destruction, that dynamic, never-ending process started long before the advent of the internet. For example, the period between the end of the US Civil War and the onset of the First World War marked a golden age of creative destruction. The five decades transformed the American economy, and firmly established America as the world’s pre-eminent power. The transformation was similar to the spectacular rise of China since 1978, except it was even more dramatic. It was driven by a group of visionary, larger-than-life capitalists, men like Cornelius Vanderbilt, John Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, J.P. Morgan, and Henry Ford. Each left a lasting imprint on the economy and indeed human life, and is associated with a game-changing innovation — railroads (Vanderbilt), oil (Rockefeller), steel (Carnegie), electricity (Morgan), and automobile (Ford). These men did not invent these products, but they brought them to the masses and made them a part of everyday life. They are kindred spirits and spiritual forerunners of Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Larry Page, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg…