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Dear John,
Following the destruction of the Great Depression, the FDR administration created an alphabet soup of regulatory agencies — the SEC, FCC, FHA, and so on — that regulated businesses.
Corporations were required by the government to produce public goods, or avoid public “bads” like a financial meltdown, as conditions for staying in business.
But as our most recent video explains, the U.S. government has shifted from this regulatory environment to one where we practically bribe businesses to act in our best interest.
Over the past forty years, there’s been a major change in how our government ensures that American corporations operate in the public interest. Regulatory policies of the past have been largely abandoned in favor of billion-dollar taxpayer-funded federal subsidies to private companies.
Whether it’s Wall Street bailouts, subsidies to the healthcare industry, or big money for Big Oil — government payoffs to businesses is a trend that has characterized every recent presidential administration across party lines.
Now, why won't big American corporations do what's right for America unless the government practically bribes them? And why has the government become so reluctant to regulate them?
The answer to these questions has to do with power, and the political clout that corporations wield today. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the industries that spend the most on lobbying and campaign contributions have benefited greatly from this shift from regulation to subsidy.
In short, we’re left with a system where costs are socialized, and profits are privatized.
Reversing this alarming trend might seem daunting — but we’re not powerless.
Watch our video to learn more about what we can do to make sure our government actually works for the people, not just the powerful.
Thanks for watching,
Robert Reich
Inequality Media
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