Commentary from the Age of Sail & Steam
a profound break with the historical patterns of American capitalism
I was quoted in a short article in Newsweek, offering an assessment on just how much of a radical break Trump’s seizure of effective control of several major American industrial corporations is, historically.
Behind every (alleged) great crime lies a Delaware business entity registration form
A Continuing Series… For a while now on social media (Bluesky, mainly), I’ve taken to making short threads about the ways that Delaware’s corporate franchise hooks into the headlines about the (alleged) crimes, frauds, and scams that fill our daily feeds. My tag for this bit – the title of this post – is an…
Taking the Wolves’ Side
I have a brief opinion piece in the Bay to Bay News today, that puts a new, bad bill in historical context – and explains why I think it will harm a lot of people.
In Close Touch, But Not Commanded
A New Dealer operative explains how a Delaware senator – surprisingly! – helped author a financial regulation that increased transparency and protected ordinary investors. Ironically, a Delaware politician is now working to gut that same law.
![History Never Repeats Itself But …[sigh]… It Rhymes](https://daelnorwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/kennebec-ice-and-coal-corporation.jpg?w=1200&h=900&crop=1)
History Never Repeats Itself But …[sigh]… It Rhymes
In the 1920s, Prof. William Z. Ripley decried the way corporate power accrued into controlling shareholders’ hands. His critique shaped financial regulation – until Delaware’s legislators undid it, again. Everything old is new again (and not just fascism).
The Best Thing to Ever Happen to the State of … Delaware?
This post argues that the forces pushing DExit – and thus the death of the corporate franchise –cannot be appeased by Delaware, so we must consider the future without the franchise ourselves, today.
An LLC Is Not a Corporation
AH Capital Management says it’s changing the state of its incorporation because it’s mad at Delaware law. But the company isn’t incorporated, at all! This egregious misstatement of basic fact suggests the firm’s critiques of Delaware law are made in bad faith.
Autocracy, Incorporated
How does an autocrat affect the business world? As Leviathan thrashes his bulk and churns the seas, how many adventurers’ ships do his waves swamp and founder? And how might the folks interested in those ships attempt to appease Leviathan?
The US is six months into the MAGA Restoration, and having effed around, I think…
A Corporate Political Kingdom
The more I dig into Delaware’s law and politics, the more apparent it becomes that lawyers and judges from outside of the state cannot bring themselves to imagine – much less acknowledge – the depth of state’s commitment to servicing corporations. The devotion of Delaware’s political class (past and present) to wealthy corporations, over and above any kind…
DGCL Fiasco 2025: Sources
Or, A Bibliography of News, Opinion, and Sources Relating to the 2025 Attempt to Revise Delaware’s General Corporation Law. Final update: 3/26/25. Note: SB 21 (repackaged as SS 1 for SB 21) passed the Delaware House late on Tuesday, March 25, 2025 and was signed into law the same night by Governor Meyer. The bibliography below…
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
Dael A. Norwood 