"Late" capitalism, which is to say, capitalism that has been around for a while, mostly is crony capitalism. There is a feedback loop between capitalism and democracy (and probably most other forms of government), a consequence of the positive correlation between wealth and power. A concentration of wealth leads to a concentration of power, which corrupts and degrades the democracy, leading to a further concentration of wealth and power, and so on. This is why treating capital markets as an end rather than a means is so dangerous.