Re: [ontolog-forum] Self Interest Ontology

[sowa@xxxxxxxxxxx]

Doug,

> John emphasizes that lobbyists enhance the perceived self-interest of
> their corporations by writing (laws and) regulations to harm their
> competition.

Just note that article I sent about the South Sea Bubble.  Shortly after they got their stamp of approval from the King, they lobbied to cripple the competition by forbidding any stock to be traded unless the corporation had a charter from the King.

Corporations have been doing that even before Adam Smith was born.  Those are the kinds of shenanigans that destroy the efficacy of the "invisible hand".  When the South Sea Bubble burst, the difficulty of forming new businesses prolonged the disastrous effects.

Big business is the natural enemy of small business.   Government has a tendency to take the side of big business because they give bigger "campaign contributions".  But when  you weaken the elected government, there are no barriers of any kind to stop big businesses from becoming the worst imaginable kind of de facto government.

Have you ever heard of the company towns run by mining corporations in the 19th century?  Just listen to the song "16 Tons".  That is called laissez faire.  That is why the Republicans passed the anti-trust laws.

John

_________________________________________________________________
Message Archives: http://ontolog.cim3.net/forum/ontolog-forum/  
Config Subscr: http://ontolog.cim3.net/mailman/listinfo/ontolog-forum/  
Unsubscribe: mailto:ontolog-forum-leave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Shared Files: http://ontolog.cim3.net/file/
Community Wiki: http://ontolog.cim3.net/wiki/ 
To join: http://ontolog.cim3.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?WikiHomePage#nid1J    (01)