Gustavus Myers (March 20, 1872–1942) was an American journalist and historian who published a series of highly critical and influential studies on the social costs of wealth accumulation.

These publications were frequently cited and used in an academic setting for several decades, with Myers' History of the Great American Fortunes revived in a single volume format in 1936.

From Astor and Vanderbilt, Jay Gould and Marshall Field, Stanford and Harriman, to Elkins, Morgan and Hill, Whitney, Rockefeller, Dodge, Havemeyer and numerous others, Myers detailed the permanently devastating effects of wealth accumulation on the structure of the American economy, society, and the quality of life of the vast majority of Americans.

[3] His perspective was to expose the legal and administrative enablement of financial crimes by legislation and the corruption of government bodies nominally delegated to enforce it.

[1] Myers has been associated with the muckraking era of US literature, somewhat erroneously, since his work was not journalistic, did not aim at popular magazine publication, and took a scholarly, investigative and documentary approach to its subjects.

Founded by James R. Bennett (born 1932), a professor of English at the University of Arkansas,[5] it took its name in inspiration from Myer's final work.