Can Capitalism Thrive Without Free Goodies From Government? [View all]

[eniwetok]

This thread is not about crony capitalism... but some aspects of US capitalism we don't often think about... and certainly nothing the Orwellian Right would want to mention.

What would be the free market value of all those intellectual monopolies, tax breaks, and immunities we give corporations? Could capitalism thrive without those intellectual monopolies, tax breaks, and immunities? Could anyone really amass giant fortunes without these freebies?

Government grants intellectual property monopolies to provide incentives to push the envelope... but if patents, copyrights, and trademarks didn't exist... what would US capitalism be like?

If corporations were forced to buy limited liability insurance on the open market to cover bankruptcy costs for 100c on the dollar... and protect shareholder profits and assets from clawbacks by creditors, and what would US capitalism be like?

How easy would it be for corporations to amass capital if taxes on profits were not given special preferential capital gains rates and shareholders never received limited liability protections for their investments?

Would any private insurer ever want to insure a mega corporation for all of the above? Nuclear power might never get off the ground if the government hadn't passed the Price Anderson Act.

What would the American economy look like without the free goodies We The People give to corporations and those who invest in them?

And if we can't imagine these corporations growing to the behemoths they are without those freebies... then what do those corporations and those who get rich from them... owe We The People back?