Burton W. Folsom, Jr.

Burton W. Folsom, Jr. (born 1947 in Nebraska) is an American historian and author who holds the Charles F. Kline chair in history and management at Hillsdale College.

Biography

Folsom received his BA from Indiana University in 1970, his M.A. from the University of Nebraska in 1973, and his doctorate in history from the University of Pittsburgh in 1976. Since 1988 he has edited Continuity: a Journal of History. He is a frequent columnist in the libertarian Freeman magazine and also contributes to other publications writing in favor of free market economics and limited government. He taught American history at Murray State University (KY) from 1976 to 1994.

Folsom is a former associate of the Free Enterprise Institute and the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, both free market think tanks, and a frequent guest of the libertarian organization Foundation for Economic Education.

Writings

Folsom has written several books that revise commonly held views about the role of capitalism in the social developments of the Industrial Revolution and the Gilded Age. Folsom believes the term robber barons is a misnomer, and that many leaders in big business were constructive visionaries who benefited consumers and were integral to the development of industry.