The May 25, 1907 NYT has an excellent editorial concerning technological change and the economic impacts that arise afterward. Specifically, the editorial quotes one Walter S. Power, Instructor at the University of Pennsylvania and author of the book "History of the American Whale Fishery":

The struggle for supremacy was fierce but short, and ended in the only way it could - in favor of the better, more easily obtained, and then seemingly inexhaustible kerosene. Sperm candles were dedicated to ornamental uses, and whale oil lamps were discarded to become interesting relics for succeeding generations...Kerosene came rapidly into general use. Then lubricating oils began to be made from the residuum, and finally the utilization of the wax or paraffine in making candles and in other arts robbed the whale products of their last strongholds in the markets of the world.

The editorial goes on:

The golden era of whaling had lasted half a century, representing near its close investments of over $100,000,000, with fifty different ports in Southern New England and New York, and giving employment to tens of thousands of men. On Jan. 1, 1906, there were but three whaling ports - New Bedford, Provincetown, and San Francisco - and the industry is kept alive chiefly for its by-product of bone, which a century ago was regarded as hardly worth saving. The expansion of the country and of Standard Oil pipe lines has seen the revolution, inversion, and practical collapse of the whale fishery.

At the time, of course, there is much hand-wringing about the business practices of Standard Oil, much like there is hand-wringing today about Microsoft and Walmart. However, while visiting a K-Mart in South Carolina last week I was reminded that K-Mart and Sears had teamed up to save each other and it didn't look like it was working. After commenting as such to my father-in-law, I suggested that Walmart probably wouldn't be around forever either.

The NYT of 100 years ago sounds a little like Ayn Rand's Howard Roarke in The Fountainhead when considering the dominance of Standard Oil:

"He who first shortened the labor of copyists by device of movable types was disbanding hired armies, and cashiering most Kings and Senates, and creating a whole new democratic world," said Carlyle. He who shall first market a cheaper substitute for petroleum will accomplish more than Presidents, Congresses, Commissioners of Corporations, Attorneys General, political capitalists, referendums, and mass meetings can do toward humbling the pride of Standard Oil.

Although electricity replaced the use of petroleum for lighting, most of what was once Standard Oil remains to be humbled. Many claim it is because the government hasn't done enough, still others might suggest it is because the government has done too much. Regardless, the sentiment of 100 years ago would seem to pertain today although I doubt today's NYT would approach the issue in the same way.

I like the term "political capitalist." Perhaps we need to see more people on both sides of the aisle called such.