Corporate Welfare

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. 

The neo-mercantilist Export-Import Bank is being pushed with bipartisan support yet again. We’re being told that the Ex-Im Bank is good for private enterprise. It’s no doubt good for some private companies, but there’s a difference between private enterprise and free enterprise.

One essential feature of private equity is the taking advantage of economies of scale in cronyism, and politicians hope private equity will provide them high-paid jobs when they quit Washington.

US National Debt now exceeds $18 Trillion with no end in sight. Will we see national default on the debt or hyperinflation?

 The 2022 Olympics (i.e., the Winter Games) is now down to only two applicant nations: China and Kazakhstan.

Do we really want central banks that reward insolvency and encourage inefficiency?