Who is the greatest American Capitalist of the 20th Century?

No to all answers. Hands down the greatest Capitalist of the 20th century was Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

FDR saved Capitalism in the 20th century. The collapse of market Capitalism during the 1930's due to the abuses of the market and the failure of laizzes-faire capitalist to manage boom and bust cycles plus the vast economic inequities they created nearly spelled doom for Capitalism. With nearly 25% of Americans unemployed during the peak of The Great Depresion and with nearly 75% of the population living at or below the poverty line and with millions starving in the midwest dust bowl States there was a sharp increase in protests and anticapitalist sentiment that threatened to undermine the existing political systems and create new political parties.

By stabilizing our political systems Roosevelt affectively thwarted the tremendous growth and support of social democratic proposals. By using the rhetoric of growing left wing political movements and by co-opting their leaders Roosevelt thwarted the formation of left wing third party threats that would have further destabilize our nation politically but would have ended our market economy as we know it.

If that would have happened western Europes market economy would have followed considering how the western European market economies based on colonialism had imploded during WWI. Had the US market/capitalist economy had collapsed, western Europe would have certainly followed and that would have been the end of western style market capitalism, as we know it, around the world. Fortunately every time a socialist mass political movement occured during The Great Depression FDR skillfully coopted the movement.

Also, by implementing and leading the adoption of such landmark legislation as "The Social Security Act", which provided old age pensions for the elderly and aid for children and the handicapped and it also created our first unemployment insurance program. "The National Labor Relations Act" which guarenteed workers the right to join labor unions and created a labor relations board. These acts went a long way towards restoring peoples confidence in government which again stabilized our political situation and prevented the raise of a left wing third party.

FDR then lead legislation that stabilized agriculture and farming, food production and distribution, as well as, further stabilizing the economic and political situation. These acts had a huge impact for the better for farmers and their quality of life. "The Commodities Exchange Act created federal regulations for commodities and futures trading that required all options to be traded on organized exchanges virtually eliminating boom and bust cycles. "The Rural Electrification Act" brought the revolutionary impact of electricity to the 90% of farmers who did not have electricity when Roosevelt took office. The Public Utilities Act further stabilized the economy by effective regulation of electric utilities.

So contrary to what the right wingnuts expound about FDR's New Deal legislations as an attempt to undermine the foundations of American Capitalism. Rather it revised our Capitalist system in order to save it. Moreover, it did so not by abandoning government, it did so by strengthening it.

So thanks to FDR efforts in saving market Capitalism we still have the largest and most prosperous economy in the world!
 
No to all answers. Hands down the greatest Capitalist of the 20th century was Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

FDR saved Capitalism in the 20th century. The collapse of market Capitalism during the 1930's due to the abuses of the market and the failure of laizzes-faire capitalist to manage boom and bust cycles plus the vast economic inequities they created nearly spelled doom for Capitalism. With nearly 25% of Americans unemployed during the peak of The Great Depresion and with nearly 75% of the population living at or below the poverty line and with millions starving in the midwest dust bowl States there was a sharp increase in protests and anticapitalist sentiment that threatened to undermine the existing political systems and create new political parties.

By stabilizing our political systems Roosevelt affectively thwarted the tremendous growth and support of social democratic proposals. By using the rhetoric of growing left wing political movements and by co-opting their leaders Roosevelt thwarted the formation of left wing third party threats that would have further destabilize our nation politically but would have ended our market economy as we know it.

If that would have happened western Europes market economy would have followed considering how the western European market economies based on colonialism had imploded during WWI. Had the US market/capitalist economy had collapsed, western Europe would have certainly followed and that would have been the end of western style market capitalism, as we know it, around the world. Fortunately every time a socialist mass political movement occured during The Great Depression FDR skillfully coopted the movement.

Also, by implementing and leading the adoption of such landmark legislation as "The Social Security Act", which provided old age pensions for the elderly and aid for children and the handicapped and it also created our first unemployment insurance program. "The National Labor Relations Act" which guarenteed workers the right to join labor unions and created a labor relations board. These acts went a long way towards restoring peoples confidence in government which again stabilized our political situation and prevented the raise of a left wing third party.

FDR then lead legislation that stabilized agriculture and farming, food production and distribution, as well as, further stabilizing the economic and political situation. These acts had a huge impact for the better for farmers and their quality of life. "The Commodities Exchange Act created federal regulations for commodities and futures trading that required all options to be traded on organized exchanges virtually eliminating boom and bust cycles. "The Rural Electrification Act" brought the revolutionary impact of electricity to the 90% of farmers who did not have electricity when Roosevelt took office. The Public Utilities Act further stabilized the economy by effective regulation of electric utilities.

So contrary to what the right wingnuts expound about FDR's New Deal legislations as an attempt to undermine the foundations of American Capitalism. Rather it revised our Capitalist system in order to save it. Moreover, it did so not by abandoning government, it did so by strengthening it.

So thanks to FDR efforts in saving market Capitalism we still have the largest and most prosperous economy in the world!

Bullshit
 
I guess I can file this with lowiq's "straight question"

The sad thing is that there was some interesting discussion and opinions before Mott had to go and fuck up his own thread
 
Really, apple is the most valuable company in the world, and the Jesus phone is killing the PC industry.
That doesn't make it the most profitable or the company that generates the most revenue or the institution that impacts the overall economy or how others do business. In the tech sector you could argue that Jobs would have to take a back seat to Bill Gates in terms of size, profits, revenue generated and overall impact.
 
oh. it was a mott agenda thread. cool beans.

Sorry, friend. I haven't visited this thread in a few days but I realized when I just saw it - before entering it - that many of the names given were also those of not only the greatest capitalists of the 20th Century, but also of the greatest philanthropists.

That's what's missing in today's business climate.
 
That doesn't make it the most profitable or the company that generates the most revenue or the institution that impacts the overall economy or how others do business. In the tech sector you could argue that Jobs would have to take a back seat to Bill Gates in terms of size, profits, revenue generated and overall impact.
Microsoft is now a pimple on apples ass!
 
Jobs is gone, anticipate a repeat decade of the 90s for Apple. Already the stock has dropped, now so will the creativity and production.
 
Sorry, friend. I haven't visited this thread in a few days but I realized when I just saw it - before entering it - that many of the names given were also those of not only the greatest capitalists of the 20th Century, but also of the greatest philanthropists.

That's what's missing in today's business climate.

they only donated for their legacy, not because they actaully cared about the proles. It's not hard when you have billions to give some billions away. You can give almost 99% of your wealth away and still live like a king.
 
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