For the Glibertarians

Paul Craig Roberts piece is one of the best reads of the week. It's billed as how Wall St. destroyed private practice, but this on how corporate welfare in general has destroyed the function of real capitalism struck me as more important:

Wall Street is romanticized by libertarians and "free market economists." They believe, entirely on the basis of their ideology, that Wall Street finances venture capitalists who bring economic progress and higher living standards. Wall Street does no such thing, especially since financial deregulation turned Wall Street into a speculative hedge fund.

Wall Street is concerned with annual bonuses. It will do anything to get them.

Today the interests of American capitalists are as far removed from the interests of the population as the bureaucrats of state-owned firms under socialism. Neither can fail, no matter how incompetent or inefficient, as they have the public purse as their backup.

By all means, do read the whole thing. He's spot on in his assessment of the demise of the private practice of medicine too.

[More posts daily at The Detroit News]