John_Gault

Should we let corporations get so big that they endanger the American Economy if they fail?

__________________

RightinNYC

No we shouldn't control them and yes we should let them get that big (antitrust considerations aside).

__________________
People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.

new coup for you

Well, if they expect 700 billion dollar hand outs when they **** up, I'd say we have a stake in their behavior.

Excuse me, I forgot that the "free market" only works in one direction.

__________________
And why does your tone suggest that you do not care about children?

I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike.

DarkWizard12

Yes.

If there were any democrat in me, then I'm a Woodrow Wilson Democrat (without the bigotry). Government shouldn't play in the market or favor one business over another(i.e. give bailouts, give favors to lobbyists who pay lots of money.) but rather, give a set of rules that every business has to follow or face a penalty.

The whole point for the government in a capitalist market is to do one thing: Keep competition alive. Once a business owns 50% of the market, split the company 5 times.

RightinNYC

They're not entitled to those hand-outs, its our Congress that seems all too willing to give it to them.

new coup for you

they get those hands outs because no one in this country except Ron Paul and his cultists are willing to tolerate another Great Depression purely for the principles of an unrestricted free market.

what we have in this country is the worst possible combination of socialism and capitalism. when corporations don't need the government, we let them do whatever they want, when they do need the government, we give them whatever they want. similarly we're told that we can't possibly expect them to remain competitive while burdening greater taxation, but we allow them to export their insurance needs to the government through medicare and medicaid (Wal-Mart in particular is notorious for this). It's basically thievery on an unbelievable scale.

What we need is to install regulatory processes which, while allowing for bail outs like what's going on now, also lets the government step in and prevent (or lessen the effect of) disasters like what's currently going on.

John1234

Yes.

We should control Corporations and not let them get so big that they become our Government.
I am not for a strict control.
In fact I would not want it to affect many at all.

What happens though for example, if one corporation ends up owning more than 50% of America?
What happens if it becomes larger and more significant than the Government?
We already have corporations that have private military.

I think that they have just surpassed where the limit should be by becoming "unable to allow to fail".

I am for control and regulation.
I am against Corporate Military.
I am against Bailouts (i think)

__________________
"We are all Georgians". No Mr. McCain, We are all Americans.

independent_thinker2002

Are you in favor of the current crisis?

__________________
==]:{o

new coup for you

my very favorite part of the American conception of capitalism is the pathetic lie that it allows for "choice", "individualism" and "diversity".

Does anyone feel like they're experiencing choice and diversity when they go to the big box stores outside of their town that have shut down all the little stores? Do you really feel like you're "choosing" when you pick between Target and Wal-Mart or whatever big box store operates near you?

And once you get to that store, do you really experience "individualism"?

Wal-Mart is just about the closest thing to Soviet utilitarianism I've ever experienced. A vast, vast wharehouse like space, lit by harsh fluorescent lighting, staffed by incompetent zombies where I can only buy goods in insane military like quantities. That's the face of capitalism, thank God we haven't submitted ourselves to the dehumanizing force of socialism.

Ethereal

When one looks at the real cause behind this quagmire the relative size of these corporations becomes immaterial to the nature of this economic downturn. What neither side wants to talk about is the role the government played in manufacturing this debacle. They compelled these financial giants to incur virtually unmitigatable risks while saturating the economy with cheap money. Had the government simply allowed the market to dictate its own lending practices none of these low-income, high-risk borrowers would have had the chance to default en masse on their loans.