Cato Institute member, scourge of protectionist idiocy and blogger Brink Lindsey pays a fulsome and moving tribute to recently-deceased American steelmaker Ken Iverson, who tore up the script on how to make steel. Iverson reads like a character straight out of Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged. He founded the “mini-mill” model of steel production using scrap steel and smaller, less cumbersome production techniques, founding the North Carolina firm Nuccor.
Iverson consistently opposed tariffs and other protectionist measures, believing his style of business could flourish in a free market. His success as a businessman is a poke in the eye of deluded economists and vote-grabbing politicians who think that such key industries as steel can only survive under the umbrella of government support. Iverson proved the opposite. Ken Iverson was by all accounts very different from the sleek business figures of left-wing demonology. A down to earth character who took his own phone calls and motivated his staff. He surely will take his place in the Pantheon of real capitalist heroes. Reading his brief life story helped brighten my day.
