Cronyism in America

Professors Don Boudreaux (George Mason University), Susan Dudley (George Washington University) & Bradley Schiller (University of Nevada-Reno) discuss the causes & solutions to Cronyism in America.

Produced by Sean W. Malone
http://www.economicfreedom.org

Voice over by Bill Catlett

Additional Media from:
Susan Dudley
Anthony Fisher
The Sunlight Foundation (http://sunlightfoundation.com/)
The Heritage Foundation (http://www.heritage.org)
Wikimedia Commons
http://www.sxc.hu
http://www.archive.org/details/prelinger
http://www.whitehouse.gov

• Category

  Nonprofits & Activism

[g0ssage]

As Ayn Rand so perfectly called it: "The Aristocracy of Pull".

[Ali Adeeb]

1) Capitalism(profit seeking under rule of law)never caused a crisis+never will

2) Crony Cap is a phrase coined to describe businessmen and politicians passing regulations to keep the little guy down and monopolize the market. It didn't come from Cap, it just happened in a big gov liberal cap society.

3) The concept provides the best model, but the practice make the poor poorer to make the rich less rich and increases the wage gap.

4)Hong Kong

5)So it couldn't happen(probably does) in socialism?

[MsUssification]

2 BIG main changes are neecded immediately. one-get rid of lobbyists..NOW! two-make it illegal for company ceo's to become leaders or workers in government offices and departments. example-monsanto's ceo is now a leader in the FDA. that cannot and will not work out well for the rest of us.

[pablocoon]

No, I will not. Socialism is legal plunder and Communism is legal plunder. Socialism gives way to communism and is thus no better than communism.

[TheGarfuncle]

Would you Americans stop throwing around the word Socialism with the same definition of Communism? The rest of the western world, Britain, Europe, Canada, Japan have Social DEMOCRATIC parties such as the NDP in Canada and the Labor Party in Britain. If you want to have a positive discussion on the topic then get your definitions right and remove all of this Cold War dogma/propaganda. It has no room in the 21st Century. Thank you.

[Joe Anderson]

Are you serious? The current system of over-regulated free trade, as perverted as it is from the original intent of free trade economics, still has raised the standard of living for more people and lifted the common person out of abject poverty more so than any system at any time in the entire history of humankind.

Under what system has humanity done better? Feudalism? Monarchies? Communism?

What is better than the freedom to choose?

I think you need to reconsider your premises.

[Joe Anderson]

"the market doesn't take care of them, and that people do" - How about this: People take care of themselves, and if they cannot do so, then it is up to them to find arrangements through family and/or friends who can "take care of them." This is and should be the exception for those who are mentally and/or physically incapable, not the lazy who are unwilling.

Life has never been easier for humanity, yet listening to you it is so hard to live that we need government handouts to survive.

[Joe Anderson]

There are many factual errors in your statements, and far too many assumptions stated as facts:

"The market serves only the rich?" - Explain that. What do you mean by "the market?" Are you talking the stock market, or the market system of buying and selling of goods and services, which, whether you are rich or poor, you take part in every day?

"it's always bad for a majority of people in capitalism, who are always poor" - Really? Define rich. Define poor.

continued...

[Joe Anderson]

Actually, the word "capitalism" was first used by novelist William Makepeace Thackeray in 1854 (from the Oxford English Dictionary). Marx mostly used the terms "capitalist" and "capitalist means of production" in his writings.

[TheSovietSuperpower]

1. They are NOT blaming Capitalism (Although it should)

2. It doesn't matter if it is "Crony Capitalism", it comes from Capitalism , and it will be the end product of Capitalism every time it occurs

3. Socialism provides the best model for egalitarian socio-economic growth

4. Stop throwing around "free-market" as a solution; it's a fairy tale

5. If you want to bitch that socialism become dictatorship, then capitalism becomes this "crony-capitalism", stop being a hypocrite.