“Everyone is in favor of free speech… but some people's idea of it is that they are free to say what they like, but if anyone else says anything back, that is an outrage.” ― Winston Churchill
You would be disappointed if you expected a publication called MIT Technology Review would eschew half baked, agenda driven articles about economics. The MIT School of Economics needs to give some remedial instruction to David Rotman, Editor of Technology Review. In a recent article, Capitalism Behaving Badly, he reviews Rethinking Capitalism, A series of essays… Continue reading Corporatism behaving predictably
First, apologies for the length of time between posts. I have 4 or 5 drafts nearly ready to post, but, for various reasons, never completed them. Now they are out of date. In any case, I’m writing about today’s Lansing Chamber of Commerce Economic Club lunch, where Governor Rick Snyder was speaker. The Governor is… Continue reading Captains of Corporatism
Even FDR Understood: No Collective Bargaining for Public Servants Since public servants work for the people, their wages, benefits, and working conditions are set in accordance with the will of the people, as determined by the democratic process. This is why it is not legitimate to ask the people to compromise with public servants in… Continue reading Axis of Corporatism
Corporatism can be defined as the merging of “corporate” interests with those of the state. For a more complete discussion, I recommend Paul Weaver’s The Suicidal Corporation. Corporatism is antithetical to capitalism, though leftists would have you believe otherwise. One way in which corporatism manifests itself is as “going along to get along” by companies… Continue reading Corporatism
Amazon Controversy Makes the Case for a Private-Sector US Postal Service Read it. Then consider who is the author of USPS troubles. The only mention of postal services in the Constitution appears in Article 1, Section 8: The Congress shall have Power To establish Post Offices and post Roads; That’s it. Not has to, has… Continue reading Free the Post Office!
I keep thinking about the MIT Technology Review article mentioned in my previous post. Editor of Technology Review David Rotman strays into territory far removed from his magazine’s titular mission by reviewing Rethinking Capitalism: A series of essays by authors including Joseph Stiglitz, an economist at Columbia University who won a Nobel Prize in 2001,… Continue reading Stick to your knitting
Peabody Energy’s Bankruptcy Shows the Limits of “Clean Coal” I’m not sure what MIT’s point is here. Peabody’s bankruptcy is the result of unlimited political manipulation. It was the intended result of Federal planning: “So if somebody wants to build a coal power plant, they can. It’s just that it will bankrupt them because they… Continue reading Headline at MIT Technology Review:
A large and growing portion of American voters are eager to shake the foundations of the electoral process in order to dramatically alter how we are governed. They are fed up with establishment politics, government waste and endemic bureaucratic corruption. Five candidates clearly agree. Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump believe further empowering government is the… Continue reading Eight No Trump
Government Motors has powerful allies: The White House, FBI, FCC, NLRB, EPA, IRS, etc., etc. Ford pulls its ad on bailouts This is what happens when government seizes corporations. If it will decide to give money to a corporation going bankrupt, to negate legal contracts… to suspend the rule of law, then government owns the… Continue reading Competitors be warned
Among other things, capitalism is about taking risk. When the government removes all risk from an “investment”, the result cannot be called capitalism. It can be called corporatism, crony capitalism, mercantilism, fascism or socialism, but not capitalism. Such deals are the province of corporatist whores and their government enablers who suspend the rule of law… Continue reading Appearance of corruption