Who Are the Real “Corporate Shills?”

Donald Boudreaux has this outstanding piece in today’s Pittsburgh-Tribune, in which he replies to one of the left’s most stale and lazy tactics – dismissing free-market advocates as "corporate shills." Even a cursory understanding of free market ideology reveals such name calling to be incredibly ignorant.

"if I were truly a shill for industry … I would oppose free markets. Free markets, after all, are markets open to competition that invariably keeps the profits of existing firms from remaining excessive and, often, even bankrupts firms once thought to be invincible industry leaders. Existing firms almost all deplore competition in their industries. They seek government regulations that hamstring rivals and potential rivals. And, of course, firms are forever pleading for "protection" from foreign competition." (emphasis mine)

You see, free markets make life very difficult for corporations. Increased competition, lower barriers to entry, and no political favoritism or preferential treatment are all checks on corporate power. Fact is, the source of government intervention that corporate fat-cats love to exploit are those "progressives" on the political left. To paraphrase an old adage, "When government becomes interested in business, business becomes very interested in government."

Whenever a lefty refers to me as a "corporate shill," I remain unphased (and often amused), content in the fact that such an accusation merely betrays his ignorance of markets and dynamic economies.