2007-12-27

Privated Profits, Socialized Risks (Reblog)

Who was the first person to talk about "privatized profits, socialized risks" to describe the United States' current capitalist society? It is so succinct and so true, and I wish I knew what name to hang off of it when I'm inevitably caught stealing the line at parties.

I think I first saw the phrase in Water Wars, a 2004 piece focusing on water companies in the developing world. It is everywhere now, currently popping up throughout discussion of the real estate crash and subprime meltdown.

How uneducated -- or reducated -- do we have to be to think this business strategy is a good thing to apply to every aspect of our lives?

Clearly we're at that level of education now.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I say it a lot, so if you want you can attribute it to me.