Government Takeover of GM ‘Just Short of Socialism,’ Economists Say

Washington (CNSNews.com) – Free-market economists and policy experts were highly critical of the government taking over majority ownership of General Motors (GM), but stopped short of calling the move “socialism.”

“I am much more concerned about what we might call ‘state capitalism,’ ” said author and syndicated columnist Amity Shlaes.

CNSNews.com caught up with Shlaes at the libertarian Cato Institute, Monday, where she delivered a speech on the New Deal.

“We don’t even need to say socialism,” she said. “State capitalism is bad enough.”

Under state capitalism, the government owns the means of production, but operates them in a capitalistic manner.