I had an enjoyable middle of the week, and while we did get a bit of rain later that didn’t stop me from listening to books for my #AcademicRunPlaylist!

First was “The Practical Utopians” by Steven Leikin. This is an incredible dive into the brief, shining moment of the cooperative movement in the US in the late 1800s, analyzing its fascinating roots, strong entanglements with the Knights of Labor, and its ultimate dissolution. In the heyday of industrial capitalism's ascendency, this somewhat nebulous approach to building organizations that operated and delivered profits in a truly unique way is an amazing example of the classes of economic exchange that one could experiment with. The challenges of making this model work are also instructive, with worker, customer, and organizational incentives often clashing in ways that were unable to be resolved. The tight coupling of these cooperatives with the Knights of Labor and their somewhat competing social goals also shows tantalizing clues about how this might be made to work in the future. It's rare that you see truly unique economic models, and this book provides great insight into one that doesn't get a lot of attention. Highly recommend https://wsupress.wayne.edu/9780814331286/

Last was “Corporation Nation” by Robert E. Wright. This is an incredible review of the early history of corporations in the US - from their jaw-dropping start funding operations through lotteries instead of selling shares, to the still wild and highly speculative early to mid 19th century, to the lead up to the Great Depression. There is a bit of coverage after that but it is definitely not the book's strong suit, nor is the armchair legal and economic analysis that accompanies it. The extreme libertarian views of the author shows through in cracks, which is extremely off putting but not too distracting. The main thrust of the book, however, is excellent, showing how fraud pervaded the private sector and the breadth of experimentation with corporate governance during this period. That experimentation is clearly needed again today, but geared towards much more oversight, rather than the regression to the pre-SEC days that will surely teach us the lessons of lax governance all over again. Highly recommend https://www.pennpress.org/9780812208962/corporation-nation/