FDA Form of Corporatism

For John, BLUF:  Bureaucrats slow the economy, mostly.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The blogosphere is a big Evers to Tinker to Chance machine.  This started with ¡No Pasaran!, echoing Mickey Kaus on the blog InstaPundit.

MICKEY KAUS: “The Obama Administration continues to blaze new paths to corporatism (the cozy alliance of government with a few big businesses in each industry to the exclusion of smaller players).” All in the name of helping the little guy, of course. But wait, there’s a downside:

Obama’s second, FDA-style form of corporatism might ironically pose a serious threat to the Washington economy. After all, if all regulations are hashed out informally around a table between regulators, a few oligopolists and industry trade associations**-well, will we need so many lawyers to litigate rules in formal, quasi-judicial agency proceedings, and then to sue to get them overturned in court? Covington & Burling could lay off half its partners.

¡No Pasarán!

Actually, fewer lobbyists could be an upside.

This is heading toward a form of mercantilism and we should all read The Other Path, by Hernando De Soto.

Regards  —  Cliff