Cronyism Liberty Versus Power In Early America 16071849 Patrick Newman by Patrick Newman 9781610167420, 1610167422 instant download after payment.

From the Introduction to Cronyism: Liberty versus Power in Early America, 1607–1849.

The present book is an economic and political history of early  America, describing government policies and their effects on marketplace activity. In particular, it is a history of cronyism: when the government passes policies to benefit special-interest politicians,  bureaucrats, businesses, and other groups at the expense of the general public. Examples include a central bank’s selective credit expansion, discriminatory taxes and regulations, business subsidies, territorial acquisitions, and other foreign policy maneuvers, and new constitutions. The rewards of cronyism take the form of monetary gains, particularly increased incomes and profits for individuals and businesses, or psychic gains from greater power and authority. The government’s claim that it passed legislation to enhance public welfare is only a thin veneer for privileges and redistribution. 

Special-interest legislation is inherent in the very nature of government. On the free market, the network of voluntary exchanges, all activity is based on individual liberty and results in mutually beneficial outcomes. The competitive profit and loss mechanism incentivizes individuals to produce goods and services that consumers desire. However, the government, the legitimated monopoly of power, lacks this mechanism and produces outcomes that are harmful to society. The incentive structure is different: unlike the Invisible Hand of the market, individuals that control the coercive Visible  Hand are encouraged to pass legislation that benefits themselves at the expense of others. The stronger the government, the more lucrative the rewards. To control the government machinery is to control the levers of cronyism.