Government subsidies run wild in Michigan

By Anita Folsom | for Michigan Capitol Confidential

Failed government subsidies have existed in U.S. history from George Washington to Barack Obama.

But what’s especially remarkable about the stream of government aid — subsidies to the fur trade, steamships, railroads, airplanes, and even ethanol today — is that private citizens, with no federal funds, almost always outperform the men whom the government endows with large chunks of cash.

In the first years of the American Republic, John Jacob Astor owned a fur company that defeated a government-funded rival — supported by George Washington himself. Astor actively traded with Indians instead of trying to tell them what they wanted and how to live.

at Michigan Capitol Confidential.