Saturday, April 19, 2014

The wrong capitalism

Crony capitalism is disdained by almost everyone but, according to Google trends, is an evermore popular usage. It seemingly describes the modern world nicely.  That's a great pity.  The political right as well as the political left disdain it (as in Tea Party and the Occupy people; the latter think it's the only kind of capitalism there is). Somehow they keep electing people who implement cronyism full throttle. This morning's LA Times front page includes "LA should be more selective with hotel tax breaks ..." You bet. Read the whole thing. I'm pretty sure the reporter is not posing as a satirist. The people he quotes know all about which area "needs" how many hotel rooms -- and they all agree whose pockets they "need" to pick so that this "need" does not go unmet. The word "shameful" never comes up.