@Mothified
There is no crony capitalism.
I'd say that's not completely true. For example:
If there was no capitalism then you would not have the choice of what to buy. you'd have ONE brand of each product and there would be a monopoly of everything.
This is completely wrong. Even in socialism, there were different brands. Both at different price points (Wartburg and Trabant, for example) and at similar prices but different locations (like UAZ and GAZ, to stay with the car example).
In the same manner, even an apparent capitalism can be restricted to a small number of producers, both through patents and trademarks as well as through laws.
For example, it's easy to make wine. Yet, if you want to produce and sell wine here in Germany, EU law mandates that you only sell a certain amount (1-2L, depending on quality) per m2 of wineyard you own and destroy the rest, even though it'd be possible to produce two to four times as much by optimizing the production method (longer branches, fertilizer etc.). The reason? A bunch of French and Italian lobby groups claiming that if Germany produced more wine, the market would be flooded, and their cronies passing a law to stop that.
Or, to leave the small examples: state-payed building projects. In theory, they have to go to the lowest bidder in the EU. So true capitalism, right?
Well, no. Even ignoring the usual corruption, due to the subventions payed to eastern and southern europe, everything, including work, is cheaper there. As a result, almost every project will be done by contractors from the slavic countries. Simply because the EU parliament keeps giving them money.
I'd never heard the term "crony capitalism" before. But I'd say it fits perfectly.
