Obama, un fasciste économique ?

Piqué sur l'excellent Econ Blog :

Here's what Sheldon Richman writes about "Fascism" in The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics:

********************
Where socialism sought totalitarian control of a society's economic processes through direct state operation of the means of production, fascism sought that control indirectly, through domination of nominally private owners. Where socialism nationalized property explicitly, fascism did so implicitly, by requiring owners to use their property in the "national interest"--that is, as the autocratic authority conceived it. (Nevertheless, a few industries were operated by the state.) Where socialism abolished all market relations outright, fascism left the appearance of market relations while planning all economic activities. Where socialism abolished money and prices, fascism controlled the monetary system and set all prices and wages politically. In doing all this, fascism denatured the marketplace. Entrepreneurship was abolished. State ministries, rather than consumers, determined what was produced and under what conditions.
********************

President Obama shouldn't get all the blame. Former President Bush took us a big step in that direction with his bailout. But when a President actually fires the president of a major company and decides to change the terms of that company's warranty on its products, that President has taken a major step. (H/T on the warranty point to Tyler Cowen.)

Cela mérite réflexion. En ces occasions, je me souviens toujours des propos de Robert Paxton : si le fascisme devait revenir sous une forme actuelle, ne croyez pas qu'il apparaitrait comme terrifiant. Au contraire, il se présenterait sous une forme rassurante, paternelle, comme Hitler rassurait les Allemands et Pétain les Français.

Bien sûr, je ne dis pas qu'Obama est un fasciste, mais certaines de ses initiatives me perturbent.

Sa manière de diriger GM indirectement est franchement inquiétante : le fameux «chapter 11», la loi américaine sur les faillites, permettrait bien mieux à GM de se restructurer bien mieux que par des injonctions gouvernementales.