0bama and His Jack-Booted Thugs

One of the reasons why I and many other economists oppose government intervention in the economy is because it causes inefficiencies and results in sluggish or no growth.

An even more important reason is to avoid the situation where government uses its power to get its way in the marketplace. This is why most socialist economies have become dictatorships. A powerful minority takes charge and suppresses opposition.

We are seeing this now, in the de facto nationalization of the auto manufacturers and financial institutions. The thuggish 0bama administration have threatened one of Chrysler's creditors in an attempt to force them to accept an unfavorable settlement of the bankrupt automaker's debts:

Thomas Lauria, Global Practice Head of the Financial Restructuring and Insolvency Group at White & Case, told ABC News that Rattner suggested to an official of the boutique investment bank Perella Weinberg Partners that officials of the Obama White House would embarrass the firm for opposing the Obama administration plan, which President Obama announced Thursday, and which requires creditors to accept roughly 29 cents on the dollar for an estimated $6.8 billion owed by Chrysler.
Lauria first told the story, without naming Rattner, to Frank Beckmann on Detroit's WJR-AM radio.
Perella Weinberg Partners, Lauria said, "was directly threatened by the White House and in essence compelled to withdraw its opposition to the deal under the threat that the full force of the White House press corps would destroy its reputation if it continued to fight. That’s how hard it is to stand on this side of the fence."

This is what inevitably happens when you allow the government to control the economy. We can expect to see much more of this.