There are, of course, business organizations that do benefit from the power to restrict entry and competition. This power, however, is not a function of product differentiation, or of advertising, or of the “technostructure,” or of market concentration, but is a function of explicit favors and privileges obtained from government. The sole source of the monopoly power, and of the problem, is the state. Yet it is the very state that most of the critics of business (and supporters of antitrust) would expand and enlarge to suit their particular vision of the good society. Knowingly or unknowingly, the critics of big business would enhance the very institution, and the very relationships that are at the root of the social problems they claim to abhor.
-Dominick Armentano (Antitrust and Monopoly: Anatomy of a Policy Failure)
Too many Socialists love the idea of having Big <insert Industry here> be their bogeyman all the type. Certainly, the Eco-Socialists over at Treehugger are ALWAYS hitting on Capitalism as the Evil of the evilest.
When I bring it up, however, that the source of Crony Capitalism is all those Dark Corners that exist all over Government, they fall strangely silent. They have this outlook, unfortunately, that those in Government are all just non-partisan technocrats that would NEVER engage in such behaviors. They can only be viewed as being altruistic with no selfish motives of their own (I know, laughable).
They cannot be convinced that to reduce Crony Capitalism, it is first required to make Government smaller. As small as possible, to be truthful, from my standpoint.
Alas, none have ever read De Tocqueville and how astonished he was to find out how much ordinary Americans did for themselves and their friends instead of immediately turning to Government under the rubric of “SomeBODY (er, not me!) has to DO something about this!”).
Frankly, the answer should almost NOT be getting Government to DO something. Rather, it is getting someone to get Government to get out of the way.
