Perfection of Crony Capitalism-OverRegulated USA

[UT1986]

From Of Two MindsThe Link
The EconomistThe Link

 

[Musburger]

Crony Capitalism and Governmental Capture are two similar terms that describe the current political/economic system. The trend is for the large corporations to become larger and gain more and more influence over the political process. Liberals blame the ongoing devolution on Republicans (with good reason), but fail to see that the process happened under Clinton (repeal of Glass-Steagall for one example), accelerated with Bush, and continues under Obama.

Big Pharma, Big Agriculture, and Big Banking now choose the agenda and write the law. Smith's article lays out the process quite well. It's all very discouraging. By the time elections are held, both candidates are usually bought and paid for. If voting actually made a difference, it would probably be illegal.

Most Americans are oblivious to the degree that large corporations now call the shots in Washington. For anybody that gives a damn, you might be interested in reading Vulture's Picnic.

 

[BrntOrngStmpeDe]

IMO, regulations that set the bar high (ie, higher CAFÉ standards, better EPA regulation, better Safery regulation etc) are good. But that is not the same as complexity.

Regulatory complexity and uncertainty is what kills small business.

It's not as big of a deal for big business because they lobby for exceptions and they have complete departments focused on avoidance/compliance. It is a killer for small businesses that can't devote the same kind of resources to it.

But this is an issue for both sides of the isle. There ought to be a rule that a bill can not be longer than 100 pages. Maybe that would keep all these SOBs from stuffing their little pet projects into the bill as well.

 

[UT1986]

What pisses me off about crony capitalism are the results that inevitably occur ...when govt. intervention results in profits being privatized by the select few due to too much political influence and corporate losses become socialized to the rest of America because govt. believes they know what's best for us. I guess when you play with house money, it's easier to stomach the losses. There's no accountability with our govt. both Dems and Repubs.