lemon socialism

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. The practice in otherwise free market capitalist economies in which the government steps in to bail out or otherwise subsidize weak or failing firms. A government attempting to transition from capitalism to socialism by this method takes control of the worst industries — the "lemons" — first, which undermines such an approach.

Word forms

lemon socialism

Etymology

Coined by Mark Green in 1974.

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