Most market economists oppose the idea of large corporate bailouts, where taxpayer funds are used to provide failing companies with financial assistance.
Despite this, Australia, and many other economies, seem to be embarking on a golden age of corporate support. My analysis of data from Global Trade Alert shows that in the past two years alone governments made more than 2,830 direct market interventions, including bailouts.
More than 64% of these were to specific firms, as opposed to sectors. And while countries such as Brazil and China account for the majority of interventions, Australia, the United States and the European Union also feature prominently.
