“There is an inherent tendency in #capitalism towards cronyism, and democracy enhances it. That means that capitalism is not sustainable in a #democracy, and those of us who defend #markets need to take that part of the argument from the left seriously. #Cronyism is not the opposite of capitalism. It is something that capitalism turns into in a political system that allows #freedom, and we should be worried about that. We should credit that as legitimate #criticism.”
— #MichaelMunger, on the #FreeThoughts podcast
https://www.libertarianism.org/podcasts/free-thoughts/capitalism-and-its-critics
@gasull
I took that to mean that #capitalism and #markets tend inherently towards #cronyism *as long as there is central power to grab*, ie when there is a government to be lobbied and there are laws that can be distorted.
Of course among the different types of government, autarchies and oligarchies will be very crony (almost by definition), while democracies should be less corruptible. In anarcho-capitalist societies and minarchist states, on the other hand, capitalists simply would have no government institutions to bend to their will.
So the point, I think, is that if we want both capitalism and democracy, we have to be on guard against that danger.
@gasull
I think that within secular, liberal, parliamentary democracies, that distinction between monarchies and republics is moot. Switzerland could very well have a King and be as prosperous as it is, and I don't think replacing the King of Norway with a President would change much, either…
@tripu It's definitely a problem but I don't see how democracy is the root cause. Isn't there cronyism too when democracy isn't present?
The Dark Enlightenment makes pretty convincing arguments in that regard, in support of a monarchy, but I'm not sold. Maybe something like Elon Musk proposes; IIRC, supermajority to pass a new law, but simple majority to abolish it.
Switzerland seems to be doing fine while many monarchies aren't.