Blog post #2 Richard White, “Introduction”(excerpt), from Railroaded

In the introduction excerpt from Richard White’s book “Railroaded”, White points out how the railroad corporations created modernity through both their failures and success. Railroads at the time stood as the epitome of modernity(White, xxii). The introduction of the transcontinental railroad allowed settlement to move from east-west, instead of only north-south. This movement westward resulted in the promotion of settlement along the way, so that they can integrate these settlers into the expanding world economy. Moreover, the production from these places went beyond market capacity. This meant that the extra production harmed the environment. 

Although White argues that the idea of the transcontinental railroad is not bad, the problem was that it was not necessary to build so many railroads at the time and some are not even built in the most efficient places. In addition, this resulted in the cost in both the long term and short term to exceed their benefits. Therefore, one of the main problems was not the idea of the transcontinental railroad, but rather the execution of it. As a result, the transcontinental failed politically, socially, and economically. Furthermore, some expected the transcontinental to fail as a business and were using the failure as a way to funnel corporate resources into their own pockets. These railroad corporations either failed or ended up being rescued by nation-states. White makes a parallel to this by stating how it is similar to the 2007-2008 collapse where the combination of precipitated massive loss, receivership, government rescues, and severe economic downturns. Where in both cases government rescue results in severe economic downturns.

Overall, I believe White is trying to point out how although these railroad companies failed to turn transcontinental into a profitable business, the failures were still able to shape modern North America.

Similarly to what White said about the innovation entrepreneurs succeeding at the expense of the firm(White, xxvi). I believe this is similar to the insiders that are benefitting from the failure of the business. I thought this was similar to when a stock investor has inside information about a corporation and then uses this information to increase their own wealth.