ra served to maintain their primary goals. The new laws and acts put into order during the Progressivemovement seemed and are Liberal indeed. However, the Liberal reforms reinforced the original conservative goals. Business and political leaders accepted the growing competition. Laissez faire, complete Liberalism, hardly ever existed and will not appear in the near future. Political capitalism, by definition from Gabriel Kolko (author of “The Triumph of Conservatism), is the utilization of political outlets to attain conditions of stability, predictability, andsecurity in the economy. The fact that federal regulation of the economy was conservative in its effect in preserving existing power and economic relations in society shows that federal regulation in the economy was conservative aswell. Through the many antitrust acts and various economic and social policies, the Progressive Era ultimately operated on the assumption that the general welfare of the community could be best served by satisfying the concreteneeds of business. The big business and business leaders influenced the regulation and the government worked for the people, promoting competition and decentralization. Hence, the Progressive movement served to preserveoriginal goals, not reform society with Liberalism....
