Capitalism: anti market?

[matgb]

The ever excellent chris_dillow_fd has an excellent summary of the banks reaction to Northern Rock at Stumbling and Mumbling, and naturally I concur completely:

This episode shows that many bosses don't really believe in free markets. Instead, they are like the slaggiest single parent. They pretend to be victims, and expect the state to save people from the consequences of their own stupidity and promiscuity. Indeed, they are worse

A large number of capitalist managers and owners pay lip service to markets, but when it comes down to it would rather not worry about that dangerous 'competition' stuff.

Which is why calling markets 'right wing' is both blinkered and stupid--markets are a tool, a means to an end, and are neutral on left/right alignment. But they are a fundamental tenet of a modern free society.

Comments

[paulatpingu.livejournal.com]

But then the government did step in, proving that if you go to them with a begging bowl and are a large financial institution, you will get help.

It should have been enough that the BoE operated as a lender of last resort, thus guaranteeing Northern Rocks survival. It was only the stupid if understandable reaction of NR savers rushing to withdraw all their money which meant the situation stepped outside of the market and into the hands of the government.

The banks didn't loan in the first place because they were concerned they wouldn't get their money back. What's wrong with that? If NR borrows strangely and gets itself into difficulty, then that's just a flaw of it's financial policy and those who have borrowed more prudently 'win'.

I'm not sure that I get the point of the article. Of course a business in the shit is going to ask for government help. Regardless of your principals or ideas about the free market, you're still going to take any help you can get, right?

[tiredstars.livejournal.com]

I saw someone suggesting that the knowledge the government will step in to absolutely guarantee bank deposits is the equivalent of a 10% corporation tax cut for banks.
I am still surprised the government was pushed into this so easily though. Perhaps it's an attempt to keep Gordon Brown's (and Alastair Darling's) economic record shiny (at least for those who don't know anything about economics) or maybe it's because they knew the crisis could spread easily and had to take dramatic and exceptional steps to prevent this.

Anyway, I thought it was common knowledge opposition to subsidies by corporations stopped at the their bank accounts. Anything less would be an ideological commitment to something, and we know what to think of that.