Remember the expression “socialize risk, privatize reward”? The “socialists” have been saying that for a long time, saying it about the crew running Wall Street. Here’s the former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund:
Emerging-market governments and their private-sector allies commonly form a tight-knit—and, most of the time, genteel—oligarchy, running the country rather like a profit-seeking company in which they are the controlling shareholders. When a country like Indonesia or South Korea or Russia grows, so do the ambitions of its captains of industry. As masters of their mini-universe, these people make some investments that clearly benefit the broader economy, but they also start making bigger and riskier bets. They reckon—correctly, in most cases—that their political connections will allow them to push onto the government any substantial problems that arise.
Does the line I highlighted sound familiar?
Read the whole thing.