RIL
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#history

2 items

Links

episode pub. Jul 29, 2026

The Robberiest Robber Baron: The Villainy of Jay Gould

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1297-business-history-299150074/episode/the-robberiest-robber-baron-the-villainy-of-jay-gould-339366422

Business History podcast episode on Jay Gould, a 19th-century 'Robber Baron' who built his fortune through stock manipulation and bribery rather than producing goods or services, prompting reforms aimed at preventing similar figures from gaining power.

#history #gilded-age #business #finance
article pub. Aug 2, 2003

Consumer Reports

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_Reports

Wikipedia overview of the nonprofit's history since its 1936 founding as Consumers Union, its no-freebies/secret-shopper testing methodology, and a rundown of tests that forced manufacturer action — including the Tesla Model 3 brake fix, the Lexus GX 460 recall, the Safari bug behind inconsistent 2016 MacBook Pro battery life, and Instacart ending its AI dynamic-pricing experiment in 2025.

#consumer-reports #product-testing #journalism #product-safety #history