Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Crony capitalism is an economy in which businesses thrive not as a result of risk, but rather as a return on money amassed through a nexus between a business class and the political class. No crony capitalism is not a feature of capitalism. Crony capitalism is a feature of corporatism. You clearly don't understand the terms you are using. China is a totalitarian state that as long as those businesses keep in line a…
> No crony capitalism is not a feature of capitalism. Yes, it's a feature of the real world system for which the term capitalism was coined by it's 19th Century critics, and it's been a prominent feature of every real example (including, to a varying extent, the modern mixed economies that have completely replaced the original system named “capitalism”, but retain significant elements of its structure, and are often…
Capitalism isn't really a system. It is just what comes about if people are allowed to trade freely and property rights are protected by the government/law enforcement. It is now recognised as an economic system.
I am not really wanting to get into a debate about Marxism. However the ideas that have spawed from Marxism probably killed 100 million people last century. So I don't really give much credence to them and you aren't going to convince me otherwise.
The mixed economies we have in Europe are frankly shite if you want to create your own business. In the UK I get taxed 4 times. I get have:
1. Corporation tax
2. Tax on withdrawing dividends
3. VAT Tax
4. Income tax.
Then if I employ other people full time. I have to setup a pension scheme because the Government (through collusion) bailed out the banking system and made everyone's state pensions worthless, which requires me employing more people I can't afford (as I am a one man band) to manage that. This has created the rise of more evil things like zero day contracts and the gig economy in the UK.
This means it is impossible in some circumstances to enter the market and grow if you are a smaller business because simply the overheads are too high. So there really isn't an open or competitive market.
So they aren't really capitalism either.
> It may not be a feature of the incoherent and unworkable “ideal” capitalism dreamed up as a defense after the criticism in which “capitalism” was named, but that fantasy has little relevance to anything.
I have no idea what you are talking about. Please be specific.
>No, it's not. Capitalism, crony or otherwise, isn't an essential feature or corporatism, though some versions of corporatism have encompassed elements of capitalism though sometimes at a fairly superficial level.
Err. I never said that. I originally said that capitalism wasn't corporatism. Crony capitalism isn't really capitalism because capitalism requires competitive markets.
"Crony capitalism is an economy in which businesses thrive not as a result of risk, but rather as a return on money amassed through a nexus between a business class and the political class."
This implies there isn't a competitive market. Therefore it isn't capitalism.