How the Bull Moose Undermined the Bull Markets

Teddy Roosevelt is simultaneously loved and reviled by both parties. His enigmatic legacy comes as a result of his stances that maddened even his own party at the time, along with his unprecedented use of presidential power. He simultaneously attacked corporations, other countries, and racial equality, all while creating the internationally involved vision of America that we know today. He believed that he could use the presidency however he wanted as long as there was no law directly against it. He had huge positive cultural impacts on America, yet his use of the Sherman act and new vision for the presidency have led to long-lasting ramifications that even he would not approve of. While at the time he hated nothing more than corporate cronyism, his legacy has enabled more crony capitalism and unfair advantage than any other president.

Roosevelt weaponized the Sherman act based on his personal conviction that there were good and bad corporations. He thought that some big corporations were harmful to consumers and the economy, and other corporations were necessary and efficient. The problem is that his vague thinking infected antitrust with a prioritization of feeling over anything verifiable. Anti-trust in the first place is problematic because the theories behind it are not true, but Roosevelt used it as little more than an extension of his ire. While current antitrust moralists have some models they use to justify the will of the state, Roosevelt demonstrated its real basis by simply prosecuting unpopular companies. Companies could be targeted merely because of what other companies or citizens said about them. Roosevelt created an environment of boundless fear by subjecting all businesses to almost inherently random scrutiny. The President’s personal opinion as an arbiter of legality was no solution then, and it is certainly no solution now. …