The Big Myth

In this intriguing historical study, Naomi Oreskes — the Henry Charles Lea Professor of the History of Science and Affiliated Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University —  and Erik M. Conway, the historian for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology, trace the US origins of laissez-faire economics.

Capitalism

Capitalism has long privatized profits and socialized costs. In 1900, one in 1,000 workers across all industries died on the job. In one dramatic example, some 6% of all Pennsylvania coal miners died annually. A worker in Scranton, Pennsylvania’s anthracite mines had a greater than 50% chance of dying or suffering a severe injury on the job. But employers suffered no repercussions, and a dead worker’s spouse and children received no compensation.