Yesterday I argued that we are facing a crisis of government that is leaving its mark on everybody. Today I want to mention some more hoof prints left on society by government.

"Crony Capitalism" is a description of an economy in which success in business depends on close relationships between business people and government. Crony Capitalism occurs when business people seek regulation and the massive cash flows held by government.

Since the 2007-2009 financial crisis, many calls have been made (often in right-wing newspapers) that capitalism has failed; capitalism has died or that capitalism is in crisis. These claims are weaked by the government’s impact on society and markets,  given the massive growth in government’s size and power. Public spending is estimated at 44.13% of GDP for FY 2012 (Actual FY2011 45.65% of GDP). This chart shows the growth over the last 110 years.

Inflation, says Peter Twigg, is the ultimate corruption: the trick used by politicians to conceal vast spending and wastefulness. It is nothing less than a full-scale robbery of the people by the state, and it's high time that more of us realized how pernicious it really is.

Harry Teasley* spent his life confronting the behaviors of bureaucrats and defined a list of rules covering their modus operandi. You can see these rules operating in government departments, corporations and with politicians themselves. Using these rules, examine bureaucratic behavior and see if the underlying rules and behavior are driving the situation.

The Rules:

Harry Teasley's Rules of Bureaucratic Behavior: