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Export-Import Bank: Cronyism that Picks Winners and Losers Among America’s Businesses

There are two fundamental problems with the Export-Import Bank and other government programs like it.

First, Ex-Im is a perfect example of how government programs that foster cozy relationships between political and economic insiders are the breeding ground of cronyism and corruption.

Indeed, the Bank is currently the subject of 31 corruption and fraud investigations, and a former employee was recently found guilty of accepting bribes on 19 different occasions.

But aside from its ethical problems, Ex-Im is bad for American jobs and bad for the economy.

For every dollar Ex-Im spends to help one U.S. company sell its products overseas, it takes away a dollar from all the other U.S. companies trying to export their products without the help of Ex-Im.

This is a classic case of government picking winners and losers in the marketplace… which always produces more losers than winners.

We usually only hear about the winners, because the benefits of a program like Ex-Im are concentrated among a few wealthy and well-connected companies, whereas the costs are spread out among everyone else.

But Ex-Im is so harmful to the economy that it's not difficult to find people who are hurt by it.

Read more at http://freedomoutpost.com/2015/05/export-import-bank-cronyism-that-picks-winners-and-losers-among-americas-businesses/#Y5KKhkErxoBFbsbp.99