Corporate welfare Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Corporate welfare - Essay Example Corporate Welfare takes a variety of forms from indirect to direct subsidizing, grants, loans, reduced tax-rates, and bailouts. The crisis that created the Corporate Welfare program in the 1930s was the Great Depression. This led to the government subsidizing the agricultural as well as other industries. Agriculture has traditionally been the most widely subsidized by the U.S. government (2). The effectiveness of Corporate Welfare is widely debated. Proponents view it as an investment that helps businesses and therefore the economy grow. The welfareinfo.org website states that â€Å"American companies remain competitive leaders in the global business industry and many owe at least a portion of their success to the funding support provided by Corporate Welfare† (3). However, many counter this argument by saying that only big companies and basically those who are â€Å"already rich† are subsidized at the expense of middle-class and poor people (4). They point to the recen t example of General Motors, which was a failing company until the government stepped in simply because they were â€Å"too big to fail.† It is clear from these historical examples and the opinions of experts that big businesses are given preferential treatment to smaller companies when it comes to Corporate Welfare.