Government, Corruption and Perversion of Capitalism
Daniel Henninger states that corruption keeps the poor down, suppresses growth and kills capitalism, and that its eradication would be an appropriate focus for the new pope ("Capitalism's Corruptions," Wonder Land, April 4). Mr. Henninger treats corruption as though it were a cause, not an effect, something that could be eradicated if we attacked it.
The very existence of government invites corruption, as the governed, having granted powers to their governors, are inevitably tempted to offer bribes and kickbacks to induce the governors to grant favors in the exercise of that power. Power corrupts. It is impossible to eliminate corruption; it exists in every nation. But some nations are substantially more corrupt than others, and that is no accident or coincidence because it is clear that the greater the degree of governmental intrusion into the normal operation of free markets, the greater the degree of corruption the country must eventually endure.
As Friedrich Hayek has demonstrated, once a government gets into the business of picking winners and losers (i.e., planning the economy), it is inevitable that businesses will compete less and less on the basis of the price and quality of their products and services, and more and more on the basis of currying the favor of those in government with the power to determine who wins and who loses. Consider what has happened in the U.S. in the areas of health care and financial services. Sometimes the bribes and kickbacks are obvious and illegal; sometimes they are more subtle, and we call them "crony capitalism."
By focusing on the effect rather than the cause, Mr. Henninger is playing right into the hands of the Obama crowd, who no doubt would attack corruption in the only way they know how: mock reform in the form of even more governmental regulation.
Michael E.C. Moss
The Woodlands, Texas
"Capitalism's Corruptions" is a bad title. Those who endorse free-market capitalism and capitalism's devotion to integrity and a reliance on trust, rather than regulation by and the authority of government, must counter Orwellian attempts to defame capitalism by associating capitalism with cronyism or being "probusiness." As Mr. Henninger correctly writes, "corruption kills capitalism." What he neglects to say is that capitalism drives out corruption. In truth, the intellectual battle of ideas is between capitalism and fascism. But fascism, in which the government directs or controls the economy (without necessarily owning the means of production), is seldom mentioned because terms like "crony capitalism" are misused in fascism's place. Let's expose crony capitalism for the fascism it is, not aid its spread by keeping it camouflaged as some amorphous form of its antidote, capitalism.
Clifford Sondock
Jericho, N.Y.
There is a profound message in the way Christ paid his taxes. When it was time to pay he sent his follower fishing to get a coin from the gullet of his catch. The tax collector got a coin but the citizen kept the fish. Not much room for corruption there.
Glen Risley
Houston
A version of this article appeared April 11, 2013, on page A16 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Government, Corruption and Perversion of Capitalism.
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