Do you really believe that large economic interests would actually employ such tactics in order to ensure favorable business conditions for their industries? Is this what the left is always whining about: "economic power"?

In other words, would corporate interests manipulate elections and candidates, unions, fund or found groups or political parties that promoted their agendas, conduct public relations campaigns, controlling the press, launch targeted advertising, initiate litigation, lobby, and support organizations that had goals consistent with their business plans?

Businesses that normally compete in the market place might even join associations and groups that promoted overall industry interests. Many of these activities, by the way, could be done perfectly legally as well. Business collectives have the same freedom of speech rights as human beings, and a lot of it can be written off their taxes as a business expense.

When you add the potential for illegal maneuvers, the scope and effectiveness of these quasi-clandestine operations suddenly gets leveraged substantially. Among these are cartels, monopolies vertical and horizontal, price-fixing, bribery, and eventually, character assasination and lawsuits, maybe even downright criminal activity like murder, fomenting insurrection, and provoking war (here's where sympathetic governments come in handy).

Are you saying private businesses would actually do things like that? Or only Arab ones? TB, you're starting to sound like you're reading your Marx.