"Capitalism," It Fails Us Now

As Michael Moynihan notes below, there's an effort afoot to rebrand "capitalism" as "free enterprise." On the face of it, I like the idea. Capital is going to be a central part of any modern economic system, whether or not there's a lot of government intervention. By contrast, the phrase "free enterprise" implies economic liberty.

Unfortunately, MSNBC identifies the chief force behind the idea as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a group whose commitment to economic liberty is so strong that it came out for TARP, the Detroit bailout, and the 2009 stimulus. If the Chamber were more honest about its outlook, it would reject "free enterprise" for a more frank label, like "corporate welfare." But I suspect that wouldn't be good branding.