Quote:
Originally Posted by Letum
That's more than a bit of an overstatement, don't you think?
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Not particularly. The U.S. Federal Reserve is a sterling example. Although it was abolished (or rather, did not have its' charter renewed) by President Andrew Jackson's administration in the 1820's, it resurfaced in the early 20th century and is now
the determining factor in Global Economic policy. Despite what it may sound like, and despite the fact that the Federal Reserve does have a state-appointed board of trustees (sort of), it is still very much a private entity.
Other examples include the rail Baronies of the late 19th century, which experienced their heydey after the creation of the Interstate Commerce Commission in the late 1880's. Despite the fact that the rail Baronies were 'broken up' and consumers were 'protected' by the activities of the ICC( which became the surface transportation board in the 90's under Clinton, and a Republican Congress, with even more power), it did nothing to change the fact that within 50 years, the U.S. rail industry was reduced to only 5 Class-1 railroads(down from almost a dozen), and within 100 years to only 3, the two largest of which are practically the same company, so cemented are the policies by which they conduct their trade.
To this day the major rail companies routinely deliver goods late and at inflated prices because they are so protected. There only competition is the horribly inefficient trucking industry, which has become non competitive due to rising fuel prices, which have been exacerbated by (guess what!?) higher fuel taxes, which the freight rail industry lobbied for in the guise of promoting public transportation, which they provide 0% of.
There are many, many, more examples here in the U.S that I can name off the top of my head; the aluminum industry, the agricultural industry, the steel industry, the lumber industry, the automotive industry, etc. etc. ad nauseum. I'm not particularly familiar with European state intitiatives but judging by what I have seen of the budget outlays(not to mention the insane taxes you pay and the insane prices for goods, and the lower standard of living) for Germany and the U.K. alone, I suspect that I'd have no trouble at all locating a wealth of plutocratic state-industrial combines controlling many sectors of E.U. industry.
So again, I do not think it is an overstatement at all, especially not in the context of Europe, a continent which has largely been fiscally re-invented since the end of the Second World War. It took the U.S. over a century, to really get started on the path to fiscal liberalism and plutocracy, and still another half-century before it really began to manifest itself. Europe launched into the fallacy of "Social Democractic" economics after barely a decade, less in some cases, and if GDP per Capita and PPP per capita are any kind of indicators, is hell-bent on becoming a plutocracy with a vast wealth gap and a massvie international defecit as soon as possible.
I think that the U.K., and the rest of the E.U. nations have placed far too much faith in the judgement of their elected representatives, especially those within the E.U. legislature. Only time will tell, but if history has anything to say about it, plutocracy it will be.