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Populists may seethe with rage when business thwarts the will of the nativist, NIMBY majority, but economists and libertarians should cheer. Imagine how little immigration there would be if employers weren’t constantly lobbying for permission to hire. Imagine how hard it would be to build housing if the construction industry weren’t constantly lobbying for permission to build. But we should remember the many businesses that push in the direction of freedom. The defense industry bears no small part of the blame for the bloated defense budget the health industry bears no small part of the blame for Medicare and Medicaid. We should remember the many businesses that push in the direction of freedom.Ĭomplaints about government favoritism carry a lot more weight, I’ll admit, when businesses are close accomplices of the politicians who are handing out the favors. You, professors, enjoy tax-funded dream jobs for life! Walmart gets a modest discount from a government monopoly. I’m amazed by the chutzpah of professors at public universities who sneer at Walmart for negotiating with local governments for tax breaks. Businesses assemble teams of volunteers to meet the needs of willing consumers-and succeed wildly.īut doesn’t every business benefit from some act of government favoritism? Sure, but who doesn’t? Before you dismiss anyone as a parasite, look at their net contribution-the difference between the government benefits they receive and the taxes they pay. Yes, they’re largely in it for the money but- unlike every government on Earth-business rarely puts a gun to your head. Business people solve these problems: They recruit workers, organize them to vastly raise their productivity, then put these products in the hands of customers all over the world.

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Left to our own economic devices, most of us are virtually useless we don’t know how to produce much, and we don’t know how to find customers. Instead, businesses provide gentle but much-needed leadership. Contrary to millennia of economic illiterates, businesses rarely do so by “exploiting” their workers. Why, you ask? My prima facie case begins with this basic fact: Businesses produce and deliver virtually all of the wonderful, affordable products that we enjoy. We should be pro-market and pro-business. If any such segment deserves our admiration, gratitude, and sympathy, it is businesspeople. But they are the least-flawed major segment of society. Yes, businesspeople are flawed human beings. But on reflection, it is deeply misguided.

I favor markets because competition makes greedy, amoral businesspeople toil for the social good.” Indeed, I’m quite suspicious of their motives.

It’s a quick way to announce, “I don’t favor markets because I like business people. Often, though, the “pro-market, not pro-business” slogan is more about attitude than policy. If you bail-out the steel industry, other businesses will ultimately bear much of the cost.

If you subsidize steel, you hurt businesses that make substitutes for steel. If you put a tariff on steel, you hurt domestic businesses that use steel. But why anyone would call such favoritism “pro-business”? Sure, these policies help some businesses, but they’re a burden on the rest. Sometimes, they’re just saying, “I oppose mandatory cartels, bailouts, subsidies, protectionism, licensing, and other government intervention on behalf of politically-favored firms.” This is a perfectly sensible position. These policies help some businesses, but they’re a burden on the rest. I’m pro-market.” What does this slogan really mean? Both economists and libertarians often emphatically state, “I’m not pro-business.

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