Tag Archives: capitalism

David Brooks has an interesting article here about the difference between democratic capitalism vs. state capitalism.  He focuses on the oil industry. American/European companies like BP and Exxon Mobil work under democratic capitalism and compete in a relatively free market, while state-run energy companies like Petrobras and Gazprom work under state capitalism.  The difference in practice is that state run companies become an arm of the government for political aggrandizement, while privately and publicly owned companies serve the interests of shareholders.