But corporatism and its variants are a matter of economic organization. It is relevant right now because public policy is shading into corporatist maneuvers. There is the bailout of the airlines, but also the incipient battles over air traffic control and insurance, among other possibilities. Check the new stories about plans for the Feds to carry x% of risk for airlines. Of course, we have had agrarian socialism in the U.S. for decades.
EPI began 16 years or so ago with an abiding interest in industrial policy, corporatism's progressive twin. Work in this area fizzled out because there just wasn't much work on this out in academia. That could change.
People on the left make a fetish out of ownership. But we have government-sponsored/government- protected enterprises (GSE's) like Fannie Mae that sell securities. Well before this year, there were proposals to 'corporatize' the FAA. One reason is that would allow it to borrow money and upgrade its facilities, something made difficult under balanced-budget idiocy. There can be private ownership with very strong government regulation (classified defense work), and public ownership that makes investors rich (GSE's). Public enterprises can be infested with private-sector characters.
What really matters in the realm of corporatism are, off the top of my head, two things: democratic governance (or its lack), and the subsidies to private capital (including risk-bearing). Depending on how these matters are arranged, you could have corporatism or gas-and-water socialism. Fascist movements on the ground can fortify movement towards the malign end of the spectrum, though I doubt they are necessary conditions for such movement. An alternative condition is a sufficiently hysterical population in a crisis situation.
This can turn over as well. I would say the Democrats have a stong hand right now in taking air traffic security out of the hands of the private sector altogether. The Senate voted for this 99 to 1 or something. Only the House repugs (and the Administration, evidently) are opposed. Krugman had a good column about this the other day. Politics in a crisis can go either way for those with the wit to grasp the situation. For instance, the flip side of labor collaboration with U.S. policy in WWI and WWII was concessions from the gov on labor rights. As Jack Welch has said, there are opportunities here.
I bought Berlet's book the other day. I am going to reward his hectoring with a chapter by chapter commentary. Coming soon on LBO.
Max 'whats a library' Sawicky
-----Original Message----- From: owner-lbo-talk at lists.panix.com [mailto:owner-lbo-talk at lists.panix.com]On Behalf Of Chip Berlet Sent: Saturday, October 13, 2001 11:35 AM To: lbo-talk at lists.panix.com Subject: Re: American Corporatism
Hi,
Thanks. My mistake. Will go ferret out the books you suggested. I fell victim to my own complaint. That it is easy to mix up corporatism and corporate rule. Sigh...
-Chip "needs to read more" Berlet