I’m generally leery of almost any government involvement in business ventures. I suppose in an ideal situation government and business could work together to promote innovation, drive investment, and allow consumers’ needs to be met. That scenario would benefit us as a society. That scenario just so rarely exists, it’s like a Unicorn sighting.
What is more par for the course, is government intervention that wreaks havoc on entrepreneurs. Usually when government injects itself into the business world it’s only to prop up the profits of one special interest and payback a campaign promise. It’s called cronyism, and we all lose.
A recent article in Billboard highlighted this kind of cronyism at its worst. The Copyright Office, wields immense power on the music industry and the arts in general. That power placed in a virtually unaccountable department like that is a wonderful place for cronyism to do its work.
The…
