Obamanomics: Business rows; Government steers

My column today explores how Obama is simultaneously "pro-business" and anti-market:

If not for high taxes and targeted tax credits, capital would flow toward whatever technologies or business investors thought most promising -- this is how markets help society. Thanks to the web of taxes and credits, though, capital instead flows wherever politicians and bureaucrats have decided is best.

Obama, to be fair, offsets some of the distortion inherent in subsidies and tax credits, because he is trying to create so many -- not just wind, but solar, natural gas, nuclear, and biomass. While this avoids the error of putting all of our energy eggs in one basket, it still is less efficient than the free market.

On Russia Today

Here's a clip of me yesterday on Russia Today, discussing Obamanomics and bailouts.

Jobs summit features rent-seeking CEOs

What does job creation look like under Obamanomics? Take a hint from the CEOs Obama invited to his job summit. My column dives into this:

Executives from Boeing, Siemens, Disney, and Dow were among those headlining the summit. These companies all depend on government aid or regulation for their profits. In this way, they were fitting icons for Obama's economic vision.

The Chamber fights Obama's regulatory robbery

My column today makes sense of some of the sound and fury these days about the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

But there's another reason Obama is running low on enemies: He's already bought off many of the most powerful industries and businesses.

Look at health care, where Obama has brought the name-brand drug makers on board to his reform with promises of subsidies and pledges not to attack the industry's special favors. Look at cigarettes, where Obama signed a tobacco regulation bill with the firm backing of Philip Morris.

And of course, look at climate-change legislation, where Obama has on his side coal giants like American Electric Power, manufacturing giants like Nike, agribusiness giant Monsanto, and lobbying giant General Electric, to name a few. The Democrats have bought off these special interests by rigging the legislation so that taxpayer and ratepayer money is funneled into corporate coffers.

So why hasn't Obama won over the Chamber of Commerce on his regulatory pushes?

The problem is that the chamber is so varied. Its members are manufacturers, service businesses, high-tech companies, finance companies and everything in between, ranging in size from Exxon to Mom & Pop, and in geography from Anchorage to Miami.

How Philip Morris Benefits From Tobacco Regulation

My latest K Street column at the Examiner:

As Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., and Rep. Henry A. Waxman, D-Calif., push bills this spring to heighten federal regulation of tobacco, expect newspapers to present “both sides” of the story by quoting cigarette giant RJ Reynolds opposite a group like Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids — painting the kind of industry-versus-do-gooder picture that characterizes coverage of most regulatory battles.

But, as usual, that picture is false. The most important ally of the “Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act” is Philip Morris, the largest cigarette maker in the world. The anti-smoking groups, which have only a fraction of Philip Morris’ lobbying clout and no generous political action committees, are sideshows in this debate.

Read it here.

Capitol Gains: Living Large in the Taxpayer-Funded Recession Oasis of Washington, DC

My first piece in the New York Post discusses our recession shield in DC and the visible effects of it.

As money is to New York City, the old analogy goes, so power is to Washington, DC. But these days, the District seems to be faring better on both fronts.

Sure, we're feeling the recession down here, too. We have net job losses, and we see our stores and restaurants going out of business. But compared to New York - well, let's just say that our Big City envy has melted away.

Starting with the Bear Stearns bailout last March, the balance of power has shifted, accelerating through the summer with AIG's collapse and government rescue, peaking with the $700 billion Wall Street bailout, and not really slowing down since. The giants of finance, the heart of New York's economy, have come to the brink of extinction. And the only reason Wall Street still exists is because of Washington.

Read the whole thing here.

Heckonomics: The Bailouts

Congress, the Treasury Department, and the Federal Reserve have offered up trillions of dollars in bailouts in recent months. Not one dime was included in an appropriations bill. My Heckonomics column this week asks, "Where the heck is this money coming from? Read the answer here.

Who the Heck is Keynes, and Why Is he Being Resurrected Now?

One trillion dollars in stimulus spending. Bailout after bailout. Democrats and Republicans alike tout government spending as the solution to our economic woes. The old lament or cheer goes "we are all Keynesians now."

Who the heck was Keynes? What did he prescribe. That's what I address in this week's Heck-o-nomics?

So, this is the sort of man Keynes was. He was very bright and very confident that smart enough people of good will could solve the world’s problems as long as they were able to dismantle the prejudices of culture and control the behavior of the unwashed. And today we’re told that he is making a comeback, and that we are all Keynesians now. What the heck could that mean?

Read the whole thing here, at Culture11.