It is not capitalism as we know it, but is it socialism or a completely new form of direct state participation in the risks and rewards of economic activity?

What it reminds me most of is feudal lords raising war taxes to fund their military adventurism. If things go well, the people get to pay and the rulers get to benefit. If things go pear-shaped, the people get to pay and face a distinct risk of having their livelihoods destroyed, while the rulers are ransomed with the money the people got to pay.

Of course, today what's being imposed on the public is a risk, not a straight-up cost, and the additional penalty levied on the public if things go bad is that their pensions get burned, not that their village gets burned. But the underlying mechanism appears to be the same.

- Jake

If you only spend 20 minutes of the rest of your life on economics, go spend them here.