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Posted on 10/16/2026 1:47:05 PM PDT by EnderWiggin1970
How the free market gets blamed for cronyism.
Words have specific meanings. Unfortunately, capitalism is frequently misused by supporters and critics alike. Too often, what people defend or condemn is not free-market capitalism at all.
Although distinctions exist among capitalism, free enterprise, and free market, for the purposes of this essay, I use capitalism to mean free-market capitalism: an economic system based on private property, voluntary exchange, competition, freedom of entry and association, and freedom of contract—including wages negotiated without government-imposed minimums. Government’s role is that of a referee: protecting property rights, enforcing contracts, and preventing force and fraud, not granting subsidies, bailouts, or special privileges.
Consider Michael Moore’s Capitalism: A Love Story (2009) and Robert Reich’s Saving Capitalism (2017). Both criticize corporate power, political influence, and government favors for large businesses. On corporate welfare, I agree with their criticisms on economic and moral grounds. Why should taxpayers subsidize businesses they might never voluntarily support? Why should politically connected corporations receive special privileges? And why should businesses making poor decisions be rescued at taxpayers’ expense?
These are legitimate complaints. But why blame free-market capitalism for government interference with the competitive market process?
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Stop calling in socialism, when it’s communism!
The Berkeley Dwarf can barely balance his checkbook.
Michael Moore is just an obese fool masquerading as a director.
Both are desperately trying to find their next paycheck.
Big Business joining with Big Government.
That’s called Fascism.
Fascism is a form of Collectivism.
Collectivism is a Left-wing political philosophy.
It’s not Marxism, but it is Left-wing.
The people who want Socialism and who protest against our current system have no idea about the nature of our political reality.
Bravo.
Thanks for posting.
I recently mentioned George Stigler the other day - and he’s also well worth reading in the same vein, with research to prove it. ‘Capture’ - he called it. ‘Cronyism’ is probably better - and more accurate. But Stigler died something like 30-40 years ago, so perhaps he just never lived to see how bad it’s become.
You might as well put this on my tombstone from the piece:
“The crucial distinction *(MY WORDS; good vs bad)* is between government enforcing general rules that protect property rights, contracts, and voluntary exchange, versus government granting special privileges or interfering with voluntary business decisions, including mergers and acquisitions.
Countries where the government prints money are not capitalist.
Stop calling it communism, when its American Progressivism.
Stop calling it Progress, when it requires no improvement.
The problem is not with the “capitalism” part. The problem is that government has become too powerful and people making their careers in government want to, and believe they can, control everything.
Close call that would seem to depend on the point to which the issue has matured.
Marx emphasized collective ownership and class emancipation as a pathway toward individual freedom. Lenin emphasized collective revolutionary action directed by a centralized political party.
We could well be on the way to the latter via election of a party that wants to stack the USSC, defund major state and federal historical institutions, implement ranked file local elections (largely opposed by R's and proposed by D's), etc., etc.
Our USA markets are something less than free. When three big hedge funds own controlling interest in most if not all of the big corporations the market is controlled by the inter owned hedge funds- Black Rock, Vanguard, and State Street, it is effectively a monopoly market. When four corporations own the great bulk of the agricultural industry and when the government bails out failing large corporations the government is hampering the market, etc. It has become a mercantile system in which the government is the partner of the effective monopolies.
Contillon Effect
Before Adam Smith
Those closest to the source of money benefit the most.
Capitalism is a term coined by a socialist and propagated by a Marxist. Given the intrusion of the government into all facets of our lives and the corrupt and incompetent boobs running the government, in 2026 the term is passe.
Progressivism, interesting idea but still have politicians.
Stop complaining about thr misuse of capitalism and just stop using it. It’s a Socialist term invented by Socialists to denigrate what they call capitalism. Freedom has a free market economy. Don’t use any other term, ever. Don’t let the Socialists control speech.
Good. I don’t want to be a capitalist.
No. Government controlling what is produced, when, and how, but letting business do it, is Fascism. Business partnering with government is just collusuon.
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