John AutryJul 20, 2025
“By 1860, two of every three of the relatively few Americans whose wealth surpassed $100,000 lived below the Mason-Dixon Line. New York at that time had fewer millionaires per capita than Mississippi. South Carolina was the richest state in the Union. The source of southern wealth was staple crops—particularly cotton—produced by enslaved men, women, and children for world markets. So matchless were the profits that more money was invested in slaves than in industry and railroads.”
Excerpt From: Nancy MacLean. “Democracy in Chains.”
#NancyMacLean #DemocracyInChains
bsmall2Mar 28, 2025
> The archive of the man who had sought to stay under the radar had been left totally unsorted and unguarded. The historian plunged in, and she read through boxes and drawers full of papers that included personal correspondence between Buchanan and billionaire industrialist Charles Koch. That’s when she had an amazing realization: here was the intellectual linchpin of a stealth revolution currently in progress.
https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/blog/meet-the-economist-behind-the-one-percents-stealth-takeover-of-america
#uspol #NancyMacLean #JamesBuchanan #KochBrothers
Meet the Hidden Architect Behind America's Racist Economics

Nobel laureate James Buchanan is the intellectual linchpin of the Koch-funded attack on democratic institutions, argues Duke historian Nancy MacLean

Institute for New Economic Thinking
Show threadbs2Mar 28, 2025
🧵
> Could it be that this relatively obscure economist’s distinctive thought was being put forcefully into action in real time?
> MacLean could not gain access to Buchanan’s papers to test her hypothesis until after his death in January 2013.
@bsmall2
#NancyMacLean on #JamesBuchanan
Show threadVictoria Stuart 🇨🇦 🏳️‍⚧️Jun 26, 2024

/2

Two books comprehensively, authoritatively detail this, explaining the current state of U.S. politics, and the spread of ultra-conservativism internationally. Basically, regulatory capture of political parties.

Jane Mayer: Dark Money ...
Nancy MacLean: Democracy in Chains ..

A bit dry if you are not interested in politics, but honestly essential reading if you want to understand contemporary conservative politics and movements.

#Koch #JaneMayer #DarkMoney #NancyMacLean #DemocracyInChains

Show threadHistoPol (#HP) 🏴 🇺🇸 🏴Jun 11, 2024

@Snowshadow @Jeramee

#USpol #Economics
#MAGAnomics #MustReads

(2/n)

...when right-wing economist, #Republican economics strategist, and later-day #NobelLaureate #JamesBuchanan founded what would later be known as the #VirginiaSchool.

#Duke historian #NancyMacLean, has written a fascinating, apparently well-researched book, #DemocracyInChains 2), about #Buchanan and his little publicized but effective machinations on #US international relations and #economic...

2)
https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/blog/meet-the-economist-behind-the-one-percents-stealth-takeover-of-america

Meet the Hidden Architect Behind America's Racist Economics

Nobel laureate James Buchanan is the intellectual linchpin of the Koch-funded attack on democratic institutions, argues Duke historian Nancy MacLean

Institute for New Economic Thinking