John Allison

The Supreme Court decision in Kelo v. City of New London upheld the city’s right to use eminent domain to take property from one private citizen and give it to another private citizen under the justification that the use under the recipient would generate higher tax revenues.  It was a very controversial decision sharply criticized my many who understand and value the importance of property rights in our society.

John Allison, CEO of BB&T, was horrified at the court’s assault on such a fundamental value.  He announced that BB&T would not make any loans to real estate developers to buy or improve any property acquired through eminent domain.

Did he worry about lost business?  The bank acquired thousands of depositors who stood with his values, and against the assault on property rights.

A businessman can stand by his values even when the government abandons theirs.

From I Am John Galt by Donald Luskin and Andrew Greta. The book is a comparison of modern day innovators and parasites compared to the characters of Ayn Rand’s novels.

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