Economy

The Monopolization of America

Adam Smith discussed the harms caused by monopolies in the frequently, ritualistically cited book, The Wealth of Nations. The progressive politics of the end of the 19th century and into the beginning of the 20th was marked by a deep reaction to the monopolistic practices of large companies then. This --->> read more -->>
Environment

Plastics and Run Amuck Capitalism

Plastic packaging is swamping the world with refuse that never degrades and flows into mountains of trash in land dumps and pollutes the oceans. For example, the bottled water industry produces over 50 billion bottles per year for the American market alone. Roughly 38 billion are not recycled and end --->> read more -->>
F.C. Howe quote about business rules
Economy

John Oliver and Monopoly Capitalism

Corporate concentration of income and wealth are core features of capitalism. From its earliest chroniclers and cheerleaders like Adam Smith, the drive for corporations to get ever larger and in the doing drive their competitors out of the market was noted and warned against. In the US, the late 19th --->> read more -->>
Economy

The New Digital Monopoly Capitalism

The New Digital Monopoly Capitalism Capitalism has always been marked by relentless growth, the destruction of smaller businesses by larger, and ultimately the creation of oligopoly and monopoly corporations. From the earliest descriptions of capitalism, even by proponents like Adam Smith, this tendency towards concentration was warned against. In the --->> read more -->>
Briefly Noted

Recently Noted – about healthcare

The New York Times has a piece this Sunday (7/30/17) by the well-known former Bush II economics advisor Greg Mankiw, “Why Healthcare Policy Is So Hard”. The article broadly acknowledges what every other developed country has recognized for decades, healthcare is not a good candidate for market control. Interesting that --->> read more -->>
Free-market Ideology

Capitalism and Innovation

Innovation is at the heart of capitalism We have been constantly told this for so long that it is now an assumption that has become an accepted fact. On the other hand, government is slow-footed, clumsy, bureaucratic, rule bound and the antithesis of innovative. This is the flip side of --->> read more -->>