User Tag List

+ Reply to Thread
Results 1 to 7 of 7

Thread: Trump admin's zeal to peel back regs is leading us to another era of robber barons

  1. #1
    Points: 25,430, Level: 38
    Level completed: 84%, Points required for next Level: 220
    Overall activity: 20.0%
    Achievements:
    SocialTagger Second ClassVeteran25000 Experience Points
    Trish's Avatar Senior Member
    Karma
    8623
    Join Date
    Nov 2016
    Posts
    5,668
    Points
    25,430
    Level
    38
    Thanks Given
    2,708
    Thanked 3,754x in 2,330 Posts
    Mentioned
    170 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)

    Trump admin's zeal to peel back regs is leading us to another era of robber barons

    The Trump administration has a clear economic objective: deregulate. Loosening regulations on industries, the White House believes, will lead to faster growth and more jobs. This is the stated reason for pulling the U.S. from the international climate accord, and the economic justification for seeking to rescind the EPA Clean Power Plan that limits carbon emissions from plants.But an examination of history shows that government regulations are not always harmful to industry; they often help business. Indeed, government regulation is as central to the growth of the American economy as markets and dollars.

    Historians of the period
    like me have, in fact, shown that the progressive era regulations often helped businesses by providing them with a more stable, predictable economic environment, where government regulations enabled increased capital investments and expanded consumer purchases. Progressive regulations of the robber baron market were good for businesses and consumers.

    The same is true for regulations a century later. Government activities to ensure competition, transparency and safety in various industries give the American economy stability almost unparalleled in any other country.

    This is not to say that all regulation is good. Sometimes regulation chokes innovation by slowing change and prohibiting risk taking. This was evidently true for regulated monopolies in mid-20th-century America, including the venerable
    Bell telephone company.

    What the United States needs is less ideology and more detailed attention among politicians to matching regulatory processes with public purposes. That was, of course, the
    goal of the progressives more than a century ago. If we don’t return to their model, chances are we will continue the current drift into another age of robber barons.

    https://theconversation.com/trump-ad...r-barons-84961

  2. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Trish For This Useful Post:

    Captain Obvious (10-12-2017),IMPress Polly (10-12-2017)

  3. #2
    Points: 100,746, Level: 77
    Level completed: 31%, Points required for next Level: 1,804
    Overall activity: 9.0%
    Achievements:
    SocialYour first Group50000 Experience PointsVeteran
    IMPress Polly's Avatar Senior Member
    Karma
    156220
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    Vermont, USA
    Posts
    8,575
    Points
    100,746
    Level
    77
    Thanks Given
    10,232
    Thanked 7,643x in 4,358 Posts
    Mentioned
    634 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Though the above is taken from a centrist position that I don't agree with, it's central point that the current political trends are leading us to "another age of robber barons" is one I definitely find to be accurate. Don't believe me? Check it out: company towns are back! Remember those from the Gilded Age?! (Remember a certain name frequently cited in that article, by the way: Mark Zuckerberg. He could be our next president!)

    Companies buying whole communities really bothers me. In our globalized age where companies can grow much larger than they could back in the 19th century, their re-emergence could even just be the beginning! We could eventually be looking at a scenario where companies grow powerful enough to start buying whole states and provinces, and even nations! That would be the final step in establishing a modern, capitalist feudal order. If feudalism is essentially a situation in which the government is privately owned (perhaps by a particular family, religious institution, or general, for instance), then ownership of governments by particular corporations would mark the establishment of a new, modern brand of feudalism. That's one serious possibility as to where things may ultimately be headed on a much larger scale than towns, I fear. We may well be in a transitional stage thereto right now, methinks.
    Last edited by IMPress Polly; 10-12-2017 at 12:06 PM.

  4. The Following User Says Thank You to IMPress Polly For This Useful Post:

    Trish (10-12-2017)

  5. #3
    Original Ranter
    Points: 314,886, Level: 100
    Level completed: 0%, Points required for next Level: 0
    Overall activity: 0.2%
    Achievements:
    SocialRecommendation Second Class50000 Experience PointsOverdriveVeteranYour first Group
    Captain Obvious's Avatar Senior Member
    Karma
    773942
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Posts
    80,473
    Points
    314,886
    Level
    100
    Thanks Given
    30,199
    Thanked 40,087x in 27,208 Posts
    Mentioned
    1041 Post(s)
    Tagged
    1 Thread(s)
    Early on I sort of predicted this when I was asked what I realistically expect from Trump.

    One of my criticisms was that he is going to be a disaster for environmental issues because he is backed by the crony capitalist crowd and this is one of the major issues I have with capitalism. The poor and middle class for that matter bear the TRUE cost of capitalism while the privileged wealthy reap all of the benefits.

    And the beat goes on.
    my junk is ugly

  6. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Captain Obvious For This Useful Post:

    IMPress Polly (10-12-2017),Trish (10-12-2017)

  7. #4
    Points: 84,523, Level: 70
    Level completed: 87%, Points required for next Level: 327
    Overall activity: 12.0%
    Achievements:
    Tagger Second Class50000 Experience PointsSocialVeteran
    Captdon's Avatar Senior Member
    Karma
    12826
    Join Date
    Aug 2017
    Location
    Charleston South Carolina
    Posts
    38,294
    Points
    84,523
    Level
    70
    Thanks Given
    67,690
    Thanked 12,837x in 10,134 Posts
    Mentioned
    161 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by IMPress Polly View Post
    Though the above is taken from a centrist position that I don't agree with, it's central point that the current political trends are leading us to "another age of robber barons" is one I definitely find to be accurate. Don't believe me? Check it out: company towns are back! Remember those from the Gilded Age?! (Remember a certain name frequently cited in that article, by the way: Mark Zuckerberg. He could be our next president!)

    Companies buying whole communities really bothers me. In our globalized age where companies can grow much larger than they could back in the 19th century, their re-emergence could even just be the beginning! We could eventually be looking at a scenario where companies grow powerful enough to start buying whole states and provinces, and even nations! That would be the final step in establishing a modern, capitalist feudal order. If feudalism is essentially a situation in which the government is privately owned (perhaps by a particular family, religious institution, or general, for instance), then ownership of governments by particular corporations would mark the establishment of a new, modern brand of feudalism. That's one serious possibility as to where things may ultimately be headed on a much larger scale than towns, I fear. We may well be in a transitional stage thereto right now, methinks.
    Name a company town. Just one.

  8. #5
    Original Ranter
    Points: 859,122, Level: 100
    Level completed: 0%, Points required for next Level: 0
    Overall activity: 90.0%
    Achievements:
    SocialCreated Album picturesOverdrive50000 Experience PointsVeteran
    Awards:
    Posting Award
    Peter1469's Avatar Advisor
    Karma
    496581
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    NOVA
    Posts
    241,700
    Points
    859,122
    Level
    100
    Thanks Given
    153,223
    Thanked 147,591x in 94,420 Posts
    Mentioned
    2552 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Some political scientists think global corporations are slowly edging national governments out.

    Quote Originally Posted by IMPress Polly View Post
    Though the above is taken from a centrist position that I don't agree with, it's central point that the current political trends are leading us to "another age of robber barons" is one I definitely find to be accurate. Don't believe me? Check it out: company towns are back! Remember those from the Gilded Age?! (Remember a certain name frequently cited in that article, by the way: Mark Zuckerberg. He could be our next president!)

    Companies buying whole communities really bothers me. In our globalized age where companies can grow much larger than they could back in the 19th century, their re-emergence could even just be the beginning! We could eventually be looking at a scenario where companies grow powerful enough to start buying whole states and provinces, and even nations! That would be the final step in establishing a modern, capitalist feudal order. If feudalism is essentially a situation in which the government is privately owned (perhaps by a particular family, religious institution, or general, for instance), then ownership of governments by particular corporations would mark the establishment of a new, modern brand of feudalism. That's one serious possibility as to where things may ultimately be headed on a much larger scale than towns, I fear. We may well be in a transitional stage thereto right now, methinks.
    ΜOΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ


  9. The Following User Says Thank You to Peter1469 For This Useful Post:

    IMPress Polly (10-13-2017)

  10. #6
    Points: 25,430, Level: 38
    Level completed: 84%, Points required for next Level: 220
    Overall activity: 20.0%
    Achievements:
    SocialTagger Second ClassVeteran25000 Experience Points
    Trish's Avatar Senior Member
    Karma
    8623
    Join Date
    Nov 2016
    Posts
    5,668
    Points
    25,430
    Level
    38
    Thanks Given
    2,708
    Thanked 3,754x in 2,330 Posts
    Mentioned
    170 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by Captdon View Post
    Name a company town. Just one.
    Here are two that I think are considered company towns:

    Menlo Park, CA (facebook)
    Orlando, FL (Disney)

  11. The Following User Says Thank You to Trish For This Useful Post:

    IMPress Polly (10-14-2017)

  12. #7
    Original Ranter
    Points: 859,122, Level: 100
    Level completed: 0%, Points required for next Level: 0
    Overall activity: 90.0%
    Achievements:
    SocialCreated Album picturesOverdrive50000 Experience PointsVeteran
    Awards:
    Posting Award
    Peter1469's Avatar Advisor
    Karma
    496581
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    NOVA
    Posts
    241,700
    Points
    859,122
    Level
    100
    Thanks Given
    153,223
    Thanked 147,591x in 94,420 Posts
    Mentioned
    2552 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by Captdon View Post
    Name a company town. Just one.
    Facebook and Google are planning for their own company towns.
    ΜOΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ


  13. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Peter1469 For This Useful Post:

    IMPress Polly (10-14-2017),Trish (10-12-2017)

+ Reply to Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts