Occupy Wall Street & Capitalism: A Professor’s Response

Christopher Coyne

Christopher Coyne is the F.A. Harper Professor of Economics at George Mason University and the Associate Director of the F. A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the Mercatus Center. Coyne is also the North American Editor of The Review of Austrian Economics and a regular contributor to the blog Coordination Problem.

The Occupy Wall Street movement expresses valid frustrations, but do the protesters aim their accusations in the wrong direction?

Economics Professor Chris Coyne draws the distinction between crony capitalism and legitimate capitalism. Crony capitalism is government favoritism fueled by handouts and is responsible for the plight of the 99%. Legitimate capitalism, on the other hand, uses competition to align consumer and producer interests and serves to improve everyone’s standard of living.

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