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Why Does Capitalism Have Such a Bad Image?

By: Brad Jackson (Diary)  |  July 30th, 2012 at 10:00 AM  | 

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On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Francis Cianfrocca to discuss the potential Fed action, capitalism’s bad image and whether we should break-up the big banks.

We’re brought to you as always by Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at bjackson[at]coffeeandmarkets.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

Related Links:

Fed Weighs Cutting Interest on Banks’ Reserves After ECB Move
Why Capitalism Has an Image Problem
Wall Street Legend Sandy Weill: Break Up the Big Banks

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  • msctex

    . . .Reagan was a bad President, the 1980′s was a period of greed and destruction, that Bill Clinton was an economic genius, and that Obama deserves another four years in office.

    Without the ability to pretend Reality and History are two different, unconnected things, these people have precisely nothing to bring to the table. They MUST be able to ignore even events clearly in view, in order to peddle their absurd wares.

  • AceInTX

    The consultant class and the statists in my party is killing us!

  • JSobieski

    Put all three together, and you get what we have.

    Even among Republicans (yes, I am referring to for example some people who were really excited about Huckabee in 2008 and Santorum in 2012), capitalism isn’t really a core conviction so much as it is a political calculation.

    Capitalism is just another word for freedom. Yet few people defend capitalism and only freaks attack freedom.

    • Common_Cents

      Anytime some media freak tries to beat Romney up about his wealth, he should just reply back, “Don’t you believe in the opportunity of America?” “Do you want everyone to be poor so we are all equal?”

      He needs to be proud of his accomplishments, if he appears guilty or weak on this issue, he’ll invite more attacks.

      He was great firing back at Brian Williams when asked about a boring white guy for VP. Romney said he didn’t think Brian was available.

  • ghostship

    for many people is because there is no scapegoat to blame for ones lack of success.

    Capitalism is the greatest economic method of creating wealth and improving peoples lives. In a true capitalistic society the only thing stopping one from being the best they can be is oneself.

    Therein lies the rub for many people. Many people when they ask themselves why they aren’t as successful as their neighbor take great comfort in believing that it’s because they weren’t born in the right family, they don’t have the right connections, the system is rigged against the little man, or that the man is keeping them down. Many people would rather believe in any of those excuses than admit the harsh truth that the single biggest problem they have is the face staring back at them in the mirror.

    Capitalism will always be under attack. However those of us who can acknowledge that capitalism is the greatest economic method for producing wealth and happiness will always defend it.

  • randgeek73

    Because people see the calamity that the financial crash in 2008 has wrought. This is a tricky proposition for the average person to work out due to a mass of conflicting accusations as to who and what is ultimately responsible for the misery we’ve experience these last four years. The Left blames the greed of the big banks for developing exotic instruments based on mortgage derivatives that allowed them to rake in massive profits while engaging in (barely) legal activities that seem so close to the perpetration of white-collar crime that it just seems like someone ought to be going to jail. The Right blames the government for creating the environment for all of the high-risk loans that allowed the banks to create securitized derivatives based on those mortgages. To me, it sounds like both are at fault. This has created the situation where the Right thinks that the government shouldn’t be involved with the markets at all, in fact the less regulation the better, while the Left thinks that the government is the only thing that can restrain potentially destructive financial activity. Capitalism may be freedom, and it may be the best method for producing wealth and happiness, but there are always going to be people who lie, cheat, and steal when they can get away with it. Who’s job is it to make sure that doesn’t happen? Surely it’s not the banks…their job is to make money, right?

  • hweila

    …increasingly become sort of corporatism where small to medium sized business are weighed down by government regulation and taxation while larger corporations can afford to lobby both parties in the government to reduce their own taxation and regulation.

    So long as we continue to call the US system as it presently exists capitalism, then capitalism will continue to gain an increasingly poor reputation.