Nationalization is usually not a threat either but a form of hospitalization of companies who might otherwise die. The investments in the auto industry and financial institutions are good examples. Once the crisis is over government shares are sold off. Governments are not meant to appropriate the profits of healthy industries just help them out when they are in critical condition. I notice that talk of nationalization which when I started in the NDP.( New Democratic Party) over sixty years ago was fairly common but now it is all but disappeared. The most you get is some attempts to fight privatization especially when union jobs are threatened.
Cheers, ken
________________________________ From: // ravi <ravi at platosbeard.org> To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org Sent: Thursday, September 8, 2011 12:26 PM Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] America's fiscal union
Here’ the thing I don’t understand.
Assumptions:
1. The few big corps have vastly more power over govt than the many small businesses.
2. Big corps have divvied up the market mostly and are not interested in competing against each other (at least not to death).
3. Big corps want big govt spending because they are major recipients (GE, HP, Boeing, Lockheed, etc).
4. Big corps are not worried about regulation - in fact it might help keep nimbler, smarter but smaller competitors at bay.
If these 4 are true, the only threat that the government (or anybody else) presents to big corps is nationalisation. Which seems so remote a possibility that I can hardly imagine it worries them. There is also increased taxation but hence the payouts to elected politicians.
So, the question is, why are they not more in support of massive government spending, etc?
Is it because that might strengthen labour?
Or is it an issue of Big Corps vs Wall Street?
Or is it because they sense the Tea Party is highly beneficial to their interests and adopting the TP and older conservative anti-govt position(s) is a small price?
—ravi
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