Another debunked idea still pushed in mainstream #economics is that capitalism leads to democracy - some even go as far to say capitalism is a necessary condition of democracy.
This is just cold-war era propaganda that still occasionally shows up in econ classrooms to this day. If anything, unfettered free-market capitalism almost necessarily devolves into oligarchy, rather than bolstering democracy, as the biggest companies in the world are showcasing well as we speak.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/sep/23/amazon-tesla-meta-climate-change-democracy
@FantasticalEconomics Russia is a great example of this lazzaiz-faire capitalism to oligarchy pipeline too.
@unsafelyhotboots @FantasticalEconomics and China. They take the 'market' to the extreme. Support hundreds of companies in an industry and after a few years they ratchet up the requirements and ratchet down the support until only a few of the best are left.
Corporations are entities with centralised control and the Chinese government is the same.
