Corporatism

All for freedom and for pleasure
Nothing ever lasts forever
Everybody wants to rule the world
--Tears for Fears

As we've noted many times on these pages, US (and world) economic systems have been moving away from the free market ideal for some time.

This article notes that our system resembles corporatism. The wording is somewhat unfortunate, because uninformed minds connect corporatism to corporations. As originally put forth, however, corporatism refers to a system where large groups (companes, non-profits, labor groups, environmentalists, etc) uses its size and influence to gain favor from political process.

Stated differently, corporatism is the market for political favor, where special interest groups trade with politicians.

Corporatism is only possible when the scope of government extends into wealth redistribution (socialism). Otherwise, SIGs would have no incentive to trade.

Want to stop corporatism? Then eliminate government's ability to forcibly control economic resources.

This article also points out that concentration of wealth increases under corporatism. SIG who can buy political favor get richer off the backs of others.