Question:  What’s the difference between Halliburton and the Post Office?

Answer: You can buy stock in Halliburton.

No, that is not a joke.  From an economic point of view, that really is the only difference.  (If I had answered, “the cool sunglasses,” that would have been a joke.)


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Question:  What’s the difference between Halliburton and I.G. Farben?

Answer:  Nationality.

Halliburton is an American company and I.G. Farben was a German company. 


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Question:  What’s the difference between Halliburton and General Motors?

Answer:  Sixty years.

General Motors prospered during World War Two and then grew bloated and inefficient and eventually needed a government bailout.  Halliburton is prospering now during the occupation of Iraq, but will inevitably become bloated and inefficient and need a government bailout.


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Question: What’s the similarity between Halliburton and General Motors?

Answer:  At the time of their government bailout, pundits can/will be heard exclaiming, “But we must!  They’re too big to fail!”

Those same pundits are/will be conspicuously silent on how the entire economy came to be held hostage by one big company.


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Question:  When Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae needed to be bailed out by the government, the Federal Reserve could have either opened the Discount Window to them or purchased their stock outright.  What’s the difference?

Answer: Fascism or socialism.

“Today our primary focus is supporting Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in their current form as they carry out their important mission,” said Henry Paulson.  Indeed, the government did choose to keep its current form:  fascism.  The Venezuelans can follow Hugo Chávez down the road to socialism, but George Bush will stick with fascism, thank you very much.  “You know, there is an implicit guarantee,” he said.


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Question: From the point of view of the average American, what difference does it make?

Answer:  None, unless he’s into reading the Sunday editorial page.

Under a fascist regime, editorialists will bemoan the existence of “those damned privately controlled bankers” and try to convince us that socialism would be better.  Under a socialist regime, editorialists will bemoan the existence of “those damned lazy government workers” and try to convince us that fascism would be better. 


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Question:  So what’s the best economic system?

Visit Axiomatic Economics by Victor Aguilar: -- Fascism: Socialism with Shareholders to see how Victor Aguilar answers this question.