But I’d go further to say that maybe a couple of Nations (called Fiscal Paradises) in the world – if that many – are NOT state-run economies. China? India? France? Germany? Russia? Brazil? USA? All muslim countries? Can you name ONE that is not a state-run economy (or worse, a religiously-run state)?

The usual excuse to rule the economy, is of course, to “protect” the consumer/citizen from “predatory” business and provide “essential” services. But in many cases they don’t even bother to excuse themselves: China, Cuba, Venezuela and Iran being clear examples.

The tools to intervene are clear too: regulation that creates cartels for politicaly influent companies; and fractional/central banking, to provide the most important cartel of all, the money cartel.

“What a fraud!!” would say the Mogambo. And we can’t agree too much.

Mr Bonner – what on Earth do you mean? Did private initiative invent the Internet? Did it lay the groundwork for the satellites that Skype relies on to make their way into orbit? I’m not saying that Big Government is good – just that the United States cannot have it both ways, financing the creation of locomotives, satellites, transistors, chips, computer mainframes, radios, jet engines, fiber optics, and the rest of the arsenal of the American “private” sector that you have in such high regard. Came out with it already – the United States is, and has been, at least since 1776, a state-run economy.

Out with it already:

Repeat after me: we, Americans, have been living in a state-run economy for over two centuries.

No need to change business practices in the US. Just do Lincoln and Jefferson a favor and remove their statues from the Mall in DC. Busts of Lenin, Marx, and Engels will look lovely in their place.