Big business Quote by Kevin D. Williamson
““It was not for nothing that Adam Smith wrote that “people of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices.” The romantic notion of politics holds that Big Business is synonymous with capitalism and the archenemy of socialism. In fact, Big Business is reliably against most of what must go into any modern definition of capitalism: free trade, free enterprise, free markets, and the impartial rule of law. Big Business reliably seeks to use the state to seek advantages in trade and to crush smaller (and often more innovative) competitors.””
About This Quote
Source Essay: Contemporary political commentary
Big Business manipulates state power to gain advantage, contradicting free‑market principles and undermining true capitalism.
In simple terms: Big Business uses government to dominate, harming free markets.
Key Takeaway
Limit corporate influence on policy.
Themes
economics
politics
corporate power
capitalism
Mood
critical
analytical
skeptical
Type
opinion
expository
political
When to use this quote
- policy debates
- antitrust discussions
- business strategy
- public advocacy
Key Concepts
regulation
state capture
market distortion
Questions to Reflect On
- How can genuine competition be protected?
- What reforms reduce corporate capture?
A Different Perspective
Free‑market advocates may underestimate the complexity of corporate‑state relationships.
![“[The] term 'libertarian' itself, to be sure, raises a problem, notably, the specious identification of an anti-authoritarian ideology with a straggling movement for 'pure capitalism' and 'free trade.' This movement never created the word: it appropriated it from the anarchist movement of the…” quote by Murray Bookchin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/d1e/murray-bookchin-2587_free-trade_the-term-libertarian-itself-to-be-sure-r_144681.jpg)
