AU Students for Liberty want businesses to stop interfering in government.
The club tabled outside Mary Graydon Center Feb. 14, passing out fliers and candy and explaining “crony capitalism” to those who would listen.
The tabling coincided with National Expose Cronyism Day, organized by the nonprofit Crony Capitalism is Phony Capitalism.
“[Crony capitalism] is a form of socialism masquerading as capitalism wherein business success is based on cozy relationships between business executives and government officials,” said the fliers supplied by Crony Capitalism is Phony Capitalism.
Libertarian activists formed Crony Capitalism is Phony in the fall 2011 in the D.C. area. The nonprofit sent out supplies, including fliers, banners and candy to approximately 250 student groups across the country, including AU Students for Liberty, for National Expose Cronyism Day.
The ties between business and government create favoritism that negatively affects the free market, according to Thadius Main, director of finances and secretary of AU Students for Liberty. “Crony capitalism” is not true capitalism because true capitalism would be free of government interference, said Main, a freshman in the Kogod School of Business.
“When you mix politics and the market, you poison both,” said John Pedersen, a freshman in the School of International Service and the School of Public Affairs.
Siobhan McGuirk, a doctoral student in the Colleges of Arts and Sciences studying anthropology, said she disagreed that shrinking government was the way to stop business interference in it. She said government should not be reduced since it provides help that people need.
“When the government was reduced in the UK under [Prime Minister] David Cameron, the first things to go were social programs,” she said.
