Comments on: THE RICH GET RICHER IN A VERY UNCAPITALIST WAY

By: DoorHold

DoorHold — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 22:03:53 +0000

Often, such legislative abuse *eventually* gets corrected. The credit industry helped re-write laws to their advantage not too long ago, and corrections are just now being implemented. Checks and balances are in place and work, but in the short term, things can get out of hand.

By: Tim

Tim — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 17:43:56 +0000

Thank you for this post, Rick. As a dem, there was a time when I couldn’t say what you just said on a righty blog without being called a left-wing socialist. I’m glad to hear that someone on the right can see this for what it really is.

By: laura

laura — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 20:28:50 +0000

Good points, Rick. I agree with you. I think the laws have already been put in place to grant unfair leverage and benefits to certain groups. That’s not free enterprise. Free enterprise would allow an “up and comer” - a “Joe the Plumber” to step in and take market share with hard work and without someone having an advantage over him through bureaucracies, legalities, technicalities, and others gaining tax-favored status, etc., etc., etc.

We need a very small government without INFLUENCE to peddle.

And anti-monopoly statutes are not interference in free trade. If monopolies are used to stifle free competition, laws are needed to protect free competition.

I’m sick of all the favoritism. Now, to get rich quick, just go through the government. They’re pooling all the money and the government, not the markets, decide who will be rich. I don’t believe Obama is for the middle class. He’s just playing the middle class to give the wealth to his fat cat friends like Blago does. It’s how government really works.

Great blog.

By: sara

sara — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 14:44:22 +0000

This piece should be discussed in every history/government/economics class in the country. Bravo.

By: endorendil

endorendil — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 13:30:09 +0000

”I am not complaining that Maddoff is rich. More power to him if he gambles successfully in the stock and commodities market. But his lawbreaking highlights the unfair advantage that accrues to the rich when they can bend government to their will and warp the competitive marketplace to their own advantage.“

This is topical, but misguided. Madoff didn’t rely on legal loopholes he helped create. He simply worked hard and very smart (he was a real pioneer in electronic trading) to become a respected rich man in the financial industry. But when things started going badly, he started cheating, and found that this was very easy to start, but hard to stop. This is just human nature, and the only thing that guard against it is overzealous, overbearing regulators. And yes, they have to be overzealous and overbearing. How else would you describe them, since they have to assume that even the most intelligent, hardworking and respected investment fund manager can turn into a common crook at any point in time.

By: endorendil

endorendil — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 13:09:10 +0000

Welcome to the modern socialist fold, Rick. Yes, the government is the only way that “the rest of us” have to counteract the vast power wielded by large corporations and wealthy individuals.

By: funny man

funny man — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 00:37:39 +0000

Government has to continuously set the rules so that FAIR competition is possible. That is always murky business. However, failure to do so would lead to monopolies and robber baron capitalism. Of course this is different in today’s world than in Rockefeller’s. I would maintain that capitalism is only viable because it can constantly correct itself and the government certainly has to play a role. If the ability for correction wasn’t there, Karl Marx would have been right.

By: Chuck Tucson

Chuck Tucson — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 19:52:43 +0000

Well said, Rick.