It was a big week for Bernie Sanders's brand of socialism, and millions of Americans already agree with him. Thanks to unquestioning acceptance of wild claims about the success of socialism in Europe, many Americans are now wishing for some European-style socialism themselves.
Because conservatives are only nominally less statist than today’s progressives, socialist policies that would have sounded outrageous to many Americans 100 years ago are now the baseline for the modern American political mind. Bernie Sanders is capitalizing on this reality.
Progressives would have us believe that they protect ordinary people from greedy corporations. But in truth, policies like Obamacare and Cap and Trade are immense crony capitalist deals that cartelize markets and greatly favor politically connected corporations.
Boston joins a growing number of cities where the taxpayers decided they didn't want to deal with the massive costs of hosting the Olympic games. As a bastion of crony capitalism, however, the games are still quite popular among politicians and business "leaders."
The only thing defense spending actually defends are the profits of defense contractors.
Myths about taxation are just one reason we need good economic reasoning now more than ever.
60 Minutes did a segment on David Rubinstein, one of the founders of Carlyle Group which was established in 1987. Carlyle is one of the largest private equity firm and the only major private equity firm to be based in Washington DC. The company controls enormous assets all over the globe and is noteworthy for being connected to many influential political figures.
The story of intervention is as old as governments and commerce, and even though the details change, the basic narrative stays the same.
Recorded at the Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama, on 10 April 2014. Includes an introduction by Mark Thornton.
In my recent article on net neutrality, I explained that more FCC control of the internet merely invites more control from powerful interest groups. Now, we know more about which interest groups are presently exercising power since, as The Daily Caller notes, the FCC regs favorably cite the anti-free-market left-wing Soros-funded group "Free Press" 62 times.
