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> What government policy led to the dominant monopoly of Standard Oil? Where did their mineral rights come from?
by iand 13y ago
> What government policy led to the dominant monopoly of Standard Oil?
Where did their mineral rights come from?
- seanmcdirmid 13y agoThey bought them from landowners, sometimes through nefarious means if you remember your early 20th century literature.
- talmand 13y agoBy nefarious means, do you mean illegal? Was it government policy to intervene in those illegal acts or to let it happen?
- seanmcdirmid 13y agoNo, just for the most part greedy people. Sometimes greedy people were able to bribe greedy officials to bend laws, especially in relation to oil in Oklahoma on American Indian reservations, who we initially stole our land from anyways.
- AnIrishDuck 13y agoPrivate landowners would sell their rights either directly to Standard Oil, or to companies owned by Standard Oil. If you can point to a deal where Standard Oil bought mineral rights directly from the government in some kind of corrupt deal, I'm all ears. Or are you arguing that the right to own private property comes from the government? What then, is the proposed alternative? Dispel property rights? Because history indicates this is likely to make the problem of monopolies worse instead of better.
- iand 13y agoTry reading Henry George for an externalities based approach to land ownership.