Tag: regulation
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Company size: Big is back
The Economist: Company size: Big is back Corporate giants were on the defensive for decades. Now they have the advantage again. … Today the balance of advantage may be shifting again [Toward big firms]. To a degree, the financial crisis is responsible. It has devastated the venture-capital market, the lifeblood of many young firms. Governments…
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Saints, Sinners and Regulation
Thomas Sowell writes: Who was it who said, "crack-brained meddling by the authorities" can "aggravate an existing crisis"? Ronald Reagan? Milton Friedman? Adam Smith? Not even close. It was Karl Marx. Unlike most leftists today, Marx studied economics. Is the current financial crisis going to lead to crack-brained meddling or to some rational actions? Predicting…
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New Agency Proposed to Oversee Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae
New York Times: New Agency Proposed to Oversee Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae (HT: Strategic Thought) (Note: This article is from Sept. 11, 2003. In light of recent events, sometimes old news is news worth revisiting.) The Bush administration today recommended the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and…
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The Invisible Hand Is Shaking
New York Times: The Invisible Hand Is Shaking ADAM SMITH’S modern disciples are far more enthusiastic about his celebrated invisible-hand idea than he ever was. In their account, Smith’s assertion was that purely selfish individuals are led by an invisible hand to produce the greatest good for all. Yet Smith himself was under no such…
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More government failure: like kryptonite to supercapitalism!
Free Exchange: More government failure: like kryptonite to supercapitalism! IF ROBERT FRANK'S characterisation of Robert Reich's new book, "Supercapitalism", is accurate, then it seems pretty naive. The problem with supercapitalism, apparently, is that when the government has massive power to interfere in markets, firms will compete to use the government to get a leg up…