Y'all know what I'm talking about:

Crony capitalism -

Crony capitalism is a pejorative term describing an allegedly capitalist economy in which success in business depends on close relationships between businessmen and government officials. It may be exhibited by favoritism in the distribution of legal permits, government grants, special tax breaks, and so forth.

UPDATE: Hey, look what Dean Baker wrote the day after my post:

Are Ben Bernanke and Henry Paulson Crony Capitalists?

The media should be asking this question. After all, they are trying to hide which banks are in trouble and refusing to give out information about who is borrowing from the Fed. This is exactly the behavior that the IMF and widely cited economists denounced when it was done by the East Asian countries during their financial crisis in the late 90s. Are these practices now good economics because our government is doing them?

posted by Quiddity at 11/10/2008 07:39:00 PM