Obamanomics: Stillborn

[Chris]

@ Obamanomics: Stillborn

"This is about the birth of an entire new industry in America." Thus spake President Obama two years ago, in remarks about A123 Systems' opening of a factory to make batteries for electric cars. It was, the president said, "an industry that's going to be central to the next generation of cars."

In pursuit of that belief, the Obama administration lavished a quarter-billion-dollar grant on the company.

The other day, A123 Systems filed for bankruptcy.

<snip, others like Solyndra>

Electric vehicles might indeed be the wave of the future. That's not the point. The point is that Washington has no business picking winners and losers in the marketplace. An industry that holds great promise doesn't need government handouts. And handouts to industries that can't make it are nothing but a waste.

Oh, hell, call it what it is, crony capitalism.

Or as one comment at the link says, fascism.

[Peter1469]

To nit pick, fascism is when the government has the upper hand; crony capitalism (or corporatism) is where the major corps have the upper hand.

[Chris]

In both cases, power is in the hands of government, and what drives it is a desire for more power. That's the narrative of John T. Flynn's 1944 narrative of Italian Fascian in As We Go Marching. Business naturally seeks favors by political means from those in power. That is the case above with A123 Systems nor Solyndra.



Edit: As We Go Marching is available for free download @ http://mises.org/books/aswegomarching.pdf