Commentary from the Age of Sail & Steam
What Rough Beast Slouches Toward Dover?
Earlier this month, I published a piece in a local Delaware outlet, outlining what I think is coming down the pike to Dover in the next legislative session. Dael Norwood, “What Rough Beast Slouches Toward Dover?,” Delaware Call, January 13, 2026, https://delawarecall.com/2026/01/13/what-rough-beast-slouches-toward-dover/. When they meet again in Dover this session, Delaware’s legislators face a real…
Forever the Fenwick Island Corporation
Fenwick Island, as a modern community, was born a Delaware chartered corporation – which perhaps explains the municipality’s current attachment to corporate voting. Fenwick Island, then, mirrors in some ways Delaware’s increasingly unambiguous preference for controllers over stakeholders. Whether it’s taxes at the beach, or plaintiffs at the bar, the state’s governing institutions seem to incline…
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…
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
Dael A. Norwood 