Michael Barone on Crony Capitalism

http://www.futureofcapitalism.com/2010/02/michael-barone-on-crony-capitalism

The great Michael Barone has a great column on what he calls "crony capitalism," which includes, but is not limited to, the investment banks whose executives President Obama praised the other day. Mr. Barone writes:

Goldman employee contributions to Democrats in 2008 ranked second only to those employed by the University of California. JPMorgan Chase's employees ranked No. 7. The stereotype of Wall Street being Republican is decades out of date.

Crony capitalism is now the order of the day in the United States. The government and the United Auto Workers own General Motors and Chrysler, which aren't likely to pay back their billions in TARP money any time soon, if ever. Meanwhile the government tells Americans to stop driving Toyotas....Big Business has been busy lobbying Big Government for "reforms" that serve big companies' interests. Wal-Mart backs a health care mandate, Philip Morris shapes tobacco regulation, General Electric is setting up a joint venture to trade carbon offsets...

by Editor  |  Feb 15, 2010 at 10:36 pm Related Topics:  Auto Industry, Banking, Campaign Finance, Capital Markets Regulation, General Electric, Goldman Sachs, Health Care, Politics, President Obama receive the latest by email: subscribe to the free futureofcapitalism.com mailing list