The sweeping story of the private investment firm Brown Brothers Harriman is a window into the rise of American capitalism and our country’s subsequent ascent to global power. 

In a discussion of his new book Inside Money: Brown Brothers Harriman and the American Way of Power, acclaimed historian, commentator, and financial executive Zachary Karabell examines a company that stood at the apex of the banking industry for much of the 19th and into the mid-20th century – and whose conservative, holistic approach to business bears attention today. Brown Brothers Harriman passed on the heady speculative upsides of the past 30 years but also avoided any role in the devastating downsides. It was, and remains, anachronistically content with earning enough rather than stratospherically more. 

As the U.S. tries to define post-pandemic capitalism amid widespread suspicion that the system is failing many Americans, the 203-year-old firm offers a model of sustainable free enterprise. 

Karabell is a contributing editor for Wired and Politico, host of the podcast What Could Go Right?, and the founder of the nonprofit news platform Progress Network at New America. He also analyzes economic and political trends as president of River Twice Research and heads the River Twice Capital advisory firm.