Is Obama Anti-Business or Anti-Markets, Part II

Now that I am back from Germany and done with the spring semester, I plan to post more regularly. In an earlier post, I discussed whether Obama is actually anti-business or anti-markets. The question is relevant because the two are not the same thing. Obama has said he is not anti-business, and offers support things like the bailout of General Motors. But, that act makes him anti-market. An op-ed piece in today's Wall Street Journal written by the governor of Indiana offers another explanation as to why that is the case. He reminds readers that the bailout of GM and Chrysler resulted in unique bankruptcy proceedings--proceedings that caused secured debtors to lose much more than would have been the case under normal bankruptcy procedures. This violation of the "rule of law" is anti market even if it helped two large firms. Once again, when government picks favorites in business they are not being pro-markets. They are also not being pro-business since some businesses are helped and others harmed by the favoritism.