The American Conservative’s 5th Annual Crony Capitalism Conference
The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) was created to be a lifeline to small businesses struggling to stay afloat as the response to COVID-19 severely restricted their operations and decimated their bottom lines. But funding was quickly distributed to publicly traded companies, including established franchises, while mom and pop operations struggled to get access. Big and small banks alike allocated the lion’s share of monies to their relationship customers first, demonstrating once again that, even in a pandemic, the well-connected always end up at the front of the line.
COVID-19 measures made other parts of the playing field uneven, too, as business operating guidelines gave more latitude to the restaurants and retailers frequented by the elite than to neighborhood diners and corner stores.
What role did government and industry cronyism play in shaping our COVID economy? And how do we make sure all businesses, big and small, are treated fairly in a society still under the corona sun?
Join us for a special discussion on this timely topic.
Welcome: Emile Doak, Executive Director, The American Conservative
Opening Remarks: Ambassador C. Boyden Gray
Keynote Address:James DeMint, Chairman of the Conservative Partnership Institute (CPI) and former US senator from South Carolina*
Panel Discussion: COVID Cronyism and Its Impact on Small Business
Mark Meadows, Partner at CPI, former White House Chief of Staff and US Congressman from North Carolina
Veronique de Rugy, Senior Research Fellow, The Mercatus Center at George Mason University
Chris Bedford, Senior Editor, The Federalist
Micah Meadowcroft, Managing Editor, The American Conservative (moderator)
Concluding remarks: Emile Doak, Executive Director, The American Conservative
Continental Breakfast will be provided.
*via Zoom.
Registration is for in-person attendance. The event will also be livecast. No registration needed for livecast; details to be provided the day of the event.
