Economic Development = Crony Capitalism?
I ran across the term "crony capitalism" in some research on the Philippines the other day. The article was talking about the influence of the Marcos family on economic development in the country.
"Crony capitalism" is a pejorative expression, denoting a type of capitalism in which business success is heavily dependent upon one's connections. In such a system, business decisions are significantly influenced by friendships and family ties, rather than by market forces and open competition.
I have to ask the question. Is economic development another form of crony capitalism?
Now that is one to think about.
Go here to provoke some thought.
posted by Don Iannone, D.Div., Ph.D. at
Monday, August 16, 2004
1 Comments:
Economic Development and Crony Capitalism have far too much in common. And even if the participants are not suspect, the methods for developing inflated budgets that are funded by helpless taxpayers make it even more tempting for corruption. Profit margins can easily be 2-3 times that of the same work scope in the private sector.
The worst situation is when the benefactors of public development projects are tax-exempt entities. It's time to change some of the rules. Tax-exemptions, and the resultant shift of burden to those in the $50-$250,000 tax brackets (those without political representation) have gutted many urban centers.
By
Anonymous, at 6:36 AM
Post a Comment
<< Home