Crony Capitalism and the Transcontinental Railroads
• http://www.lewrockwell.com, By Ryan McMakenWhen Barack Obama used the transcontinental railroads as an example of the wonderful things that can be accomplished with grandiose government programs, he was attacked for mistakenly referring to the railroads as “intercontinental.”
The James J. Hill story can be found here:
http://www.thebirdman.org/Index/Others/Others-Doc-Economics&Finance/+Doc-Economics&Finance-GovernmentInfluence&Meddling/PoliticalEntrepreneur-Hill&TheGreatNorthernRailroad.htm
This is an account of a private concerns efforts to build a transcontinental railroad and what happened to him. What happened to him was similar in character to what happened to Spooner's 19th-century UPS company.
Enjoy,
DC Treybil