The Fall of American Populist Economics

Goliath is a strange book because it proposes populist economics as separate strain of economic theory from the statist central management of New Dealers, and the winner take all pro-business, free market approach of the libertarian influenced Republicans. Stoller makes a fairly good case and because of its originality is worth a read by conservatives, liberals, progressives, and libertarians.

Regardless of where you are on the political spectrum it will make you think. He is generally tough on conservatives, especially during the 1920s, and he is even tougher on libertarians, but he offers solid evidence to support his position. That is not surprising, but what was really interesting was his attacks on Teddy Roosevelt, the New Deal, JFK, LBJ, Clinton, and Obama, and his generally positive takes on Truman, Ike, and Nixon. He even said one or two sort of nice things about Trump!

Stoller is not as strong when he moves beyond economics and he really does not dig deeply into the fundamental issues shaping the liberal and conservative visions of the American economy. Furthermore, like many revisionists, he often fails to consider the time and place his subjects were actually living. This is particularly true in his attacks on Teddy Roosevelt.

But it is definitely worth a read by anyone interested in politics, economics, or American history. He will attack your heroes and your villains, because his point of view is so firmly populist and he does not hold to the conservative and liberal paradigm we are all so used to.

It also includes interesting biographies of several almost forgotten players particularly the financier and Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon, Robert Bork, and the populist Texas Congressman Wright Patman.

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excellent

top 5 history book ive read. 150 years of monopoly history. A narrative not often covered in my eduction.

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Loved it

This was a fantastic listen. I thought it was well written and heavily detailed. At times it got pretty dense but the flow from the late 1800s to present and all the players, presidents, bankers, trends, and politics involved was fascinating. History doesn’t repeat itself but it sure rhymes. The description of what America was like 100 years ago is almost a mirror image of what’s happening to us now. Highly recommend.

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I wish the entire book were more like the conclusion

Great book. I learned so much. I just wish each chapter had more of a framing for what you were supposed to get from each era of history. The conclusion put it all together eventually but I feel the rest of it would’ve felt more cohesive if there was more analysis.

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Outlines The Failures of Chicago School Economics

Kind of boring but important. The book seems more of a summary than an interesting theory or story. Could be better.

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A Detailed History

At its core, Goliath is many stories: The story of Texarkana Congressman Wright Payment and his decades of work fighting against monopoly. It is also the story of robber barons and the sheer indifference of corporations until government intervened. Finally, it is the story of how elected leaders, while not all at once, ditched the solid principles of The New Deal, a set of policies that, when backed by antitrust, led to widespread economic prosperity.

Throughout the audiobook, you hear a wonderful performance by Jonathan Davis as he goes through a century starting off with the first Roosevelt and concluding with the Obama administration. There were moments when I would see historical events through the lens of antitrust. At the beginning, you learn of FDRs refusal to work with Hoover (because Hoover was against the New Deal reforms). Near the end, you hear the historical revisionism of that moment as explained by Obama.

Overall, I believe that this book will become more and more important as the years pass; things look dire, but it can be turned around.

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One-sided history

The author rightly highlights market corruption, but naively views government as the solution and sees populism through a liberal agenda, as if returning power to the people will automatically lead to climate legislation, transgender celebration, and every other far-left objective.

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Important book on Monopoly

A very important book on the history of monopoly in America. Everyone wondering why they economy has become so controlled by so few over the past 40 years needs to read this.

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An Argument for Socialism?

Conflates large as monopoly which is a foundational error. Implies that Democracy is an economic practice not just a political process. It is not. Yes, politics and government affect economic action. They affect social actions as well. This book argues that government must always regulate business or else business will harm our society, that deregulation or little regulation is wrong. It minimizes the benefit of large, glorifies small, and ultimately suggests that socialism is the only course of action for individuals to take. The analysis contained herein is flawed, sculpted by the hypothesis. However, the historical perspective is valuable.

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Excellent book, important movement!

One of the hallmarks of a movement is that it appeals to history, and Stoller makes no sacrifices in this regard, as Goliath is essentially a history book that pulls the reader into a right understanding of our modern political struggle against unfettered big business, with the only solution that has worked in the past - anti-trust legislation and enforcement.
This solution of anti-trust is not meant to dismantle capitalism, but instead to save capitalism from those who would break its rules and render the system defunct. Matt Stoller is offering the one solution to our time.
If you want a taste before you read, check out any of Stollers articles on his blog BIG, you will see great writing and the political solution to the economic woes of our time.

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