Opinion: Philanthropy as a Factor in Plutocratic Politics

A New York Times opinion column identifies “philanthrocapitalism” as one of the principle ways the super-rich exercise political influence but asserts that the power of “plutocrats” is facing a populist wave from both left and right.

Chrystia Freeland, a Canadian writer and parliamentary candidate, says the entrepreneurial, “technocratic” philanthropy of Bill Gates, Michael Bloomberg, and others on issues such as education and public health is a more novel way of shaping policy than the lobbying in defense of economic interests long practiced by wealthy executives and industrialists such as the Koch brothers.

But she writes that the limits of both approaches are being tested in a political environment increasingly shaped by widening economic inequality and “wired mass democracy,” fueling both the Tea Party movement and insurgent progressive Bill de Blasio’s likely election as mayor of New York.