Geithner Headed to Northwest Arknasas

 The Treasury Department has just announced that on Friday, March 25, Treasury Secretary Geithner will travel to Northwest Arkansas to meet, according to Treasury, with "regional business leaders to discuss how government and the private sector can work together to out-innovate our competition."

Economist Murray Rothbard reminded us about these business-government partnerships long ago:

The "partnership of government and business" is a new term for an old, old condition. We often fail to realize that the point of much of Big Government is precisely to set up such "partnerships," for the benefit of both government and business, or rather, of certain business firms and groups that happen to be in political favor... The northeastern Republican establishment is still cartelizing, controlling, regulating, handing out contracts to business favorites, and bailing out beloved crooks and losers. It is still playing the old "partnership" game--and still, of course, at our expense.

Now, of course, when there is no difference between the two major political parties, except what Greater Middle East countries they will attack, and what businesses they choose to dole out lucre too, Rothbard's analysis still holds, except it must be expanded to include lucre for the elite in almost all geographical parts of the country.