Quick hit from Alan Joel over at RedState:
Take, for example, a business that was recently brought to my attention. On Market Watch last week, I read about a company called Aquinas and More Catholic Goods, a Catholic bookstore in Colorado that has operated for almost 11 years. They are conducting a huge crowdfunding campaign — the biggest Catholic crowdfunding campaign ever attempted — for $250,000. That’s a lot of money. But they have a large fan base and customer base and are seemingly optimistic.
I picked this example because this is exactly the type of business that could benefit from crowdfunding precisely because crony capitalism exists. Crony capitalism messes with the free market because it allows and offers some businesses extra benefits, thereby punishing those that don’t. An old fashioned bookstore? Also sells religious goods? Never.
Some anti-crowdfunding folks suggest that crowdfunding runs risks, because you don’t know exactly what you are getting; ie the crowdfunding campaign only discloses some of the pertinent information pertaining to the campaign. This is probably true. But so what? Aren’t Americans allowed to succeed and fail? Isn’t risk part of it all? I would rather risk and lose with my own money than rely on crony capitalism (Solyndra) and have the government think its smarter with my own money and therefore take the risk for me.
Great to see this sort of conversation on RedState, and even better to see this campaign for Aquinas and More.
Crowdfunding works folks — a free market alternative to the rather lame and stagnant processes we have today.
