Our president still thinks feels Atlas Shrugged is the federal executive’s playbook. Of course government needs broader powers to break up successful companies, because providing goods and services people want to buy is criminal. That is why financial institutions are being attacked rather than terrorists, mobsters, embezzlers, etc.
I have it on about as credible account as is available that the bailout of financial institutions was designed to cover up government’s profuse welfare provided to mismanaged institutions that were going under, but donate handsomely to Republican and Democrat campaigns. (Do the initials GS mean anything?) Banks that did not need bailouts were told the government was going to change the way it rated banks. Criteria were not drawn up, but the successful institutions were sure to fall short. Once stuck with the bailouts, the banks couldn’t just repay the loans, but had to pay them back gradually with six-digit or so interest.
The moral of the story is today’s profitability is not a function of productivity, but one of kissing up. If one pleases the president, he can get laws to undercut the competition and profit handsomely from redistributions. Ayn Rand, of course, foretold what happens when an economy tries to run on connections and regulation without production.
