~ WPFEI-TGMD-LOAG-A-MSO-‘TO’-WL-SLAZ-SS-GBOG-AIA-LBOOG ~ When People Feel Economically Insecure – They Grow More Defensive – Less Open And Generous – And – More Suspicious Of – “The Other” – When Life – Seems Like A Zero-Sum Struggle – Gains By Other Groups – Are Interpreted As – Losses By One’s Own Group

~ IAU-TSOOSGASI ~ Inefficient And Unequal – The Simultaneous Occurrence Of Sluggish Growth And Spiralling Inequality

~ I-RACW-TEG-H-BRIFO-PATT ~ In – Real And Consequential Ways – The Economic Game – Has – Been Rigged In Favor Of – People At The Top

~ W-IATWTRCBTPAWO-ED-C-API-G-IA-VC ~ When – Institutions Are Too Weak To Resist Capture By The Powerful And Well Organized – Economic Decline – Corruption – And – Political Instability – Grow – In A – Vicious Circle

~ CAGAIIAC-ETVIAC-DAET-MGME-A-YSNBSIYEUW-WIG ~ Casting All Government As Inherently Incompetent And Corrupt – Enables The Very Incompetence And Corruption – Disdain Any Efforts To – Make Government More Efficient – And – You Should Not Be Surprised If You End Up With – Woefully Inefficient Government

~ A-TROR-SISGAAI-HBHIPVFSTN-TABTC-ASBGLO-IT-OB-T-L-A-R-HPTBBSAI-RC-AA-SCTOCEP ~ Although – The Role Of Rent-Seeking In Slowing Growth And Accelerating Inequality – Has Been Hidden In Plain View For Some Time Now – Things Are Beginning To Change – A Small But Growing List Of – Influential Thinkers – On Both – The – Left – And – Right – Have Pierced The Bipartisan Blind Spot And Identified – Regulatory Capture – As A – Significant Contributor To Our Current Economic Predicament

~ TRATDH ~ The Rents Are Too Damn High

~ R-S:ATSTIPWCAOV-TDTMP ~ Rent-Seeking: Activity That Seeks To Increase Profits Without Creating Anything Of Value – Through Distortions To Market Processes

~ TTETR-SHS-TIHOCDITGHOCC-A-TLPOTPIDIAFFOSI ~ To The Extent That Rent-Seeking Holds Sway – The Invisible Hand Of Capitalism Degenerates Into The Grasping Hand Of Crony Capitalism – And – The Lofty Pursuit Of The Public Interest Devolves Into A Feeding Frenzy Of Special Interests

~ FM-D-PFS-OTEO-ASSETETROTG-IA-I-P-SF-EP-M-S-BKFBTITPPTGTR ~ Free Markets – Depend – Paradoxically For Some – On The Existence Of – A State Strong Enough To Enforce The Rules Of The Game – In An – Impartial – Public-Spirited Fashion – Economic Power – Must – Somehow – Be Kept From Being Translated Into The Political Power To Game Those Rules

~ TUSOEGII:NPAPM ~ The Ultimate Source Of Economic Growth Is Innovation: New Products And Production Methods

~ EE-IIETGRB-WFTTPP-TEWBDT-N-SRS-A-ARI-R-CP-CLTA-D-OIPE ~ Entrepreneurial Energy – If It’s Easier To Get Rich By – Winning Favors Through The Policymaking Process – That Energy Will Be Diverted To – Negative-Sum Rent Seeking – Accordingly – A Rise In – Rent-Creating Policies – Can Lead To A – Drop-Off In Productive Entrepreneurship

~ RR:R-CPTUGWEI ~ Regressive Regulation: Rent-Creating Polices That Undermine Growth While Exacerbating Inequality

~ AMDHOTPOMVEEPAWAFK-MOWCTLILSBOUOWOTRTT-M-ATTVSOSRIBUBC ~ Although Mass Digitization Holds Out The Possibility Of Making Virtually Everything Ever Published Accessible With A Few Keystrokes – Millions Of Works Continue To Languish In Limbo Simply Because Of Uncertainty Over Who Owns The Rights To Them – Meanwhile – Access To The Vast Storehouses Of Scientific Research Is Bottled Up By Copyright

~ ‘IP’-‘IM’-AMSOES-A-ATFUE ~ “Intellectual Property” – “Intellectual Monopoly” – A Major Source Of Economic Stagnation – And – A Tool For Unjust Enrichment

~ AL-SPPTSOFRAFTTTRWTOWWN-YTIWWG ~ A Large-Scale Political Project To Siphon Off Further Resources And Funnel Them To The Rich Was The Opposite Of What Was Needed – Yet That Is What We Got

~ S-R-S-MBIIAMDWS-IIT-B-TCHLOR-SIN ~ Some – Rent-Seeking – May Be Inevitable In A Modern Democratic Welfare State – It Is True – But – The Current High Level Of Rent-Seeking Is Not

~ WTGDATUUIOE-IFTSPTIWSEA-POOMMI-TPS-TTAOA-G-P-TWABAC-T-IAW-QSTGSAETTAINCBPOABP-SPDTR ~ When The Government Does Attempt To Build Up Its Own Expertise – It Faces The Serious Problem That Individuals With Such Expertise Are – Paid Orders Of Magnitude More In – The Private Sector – Than They Are On A – Government – Payroll – There Will Always Be A Challenge – Therefore – In Attracting Well-Qualified Specialists To Government Service And Ensuring That Their Analysis Is Not Colored By Prospects Of A Big Private-Sector Payday Down The Road

~ TBS-R-S-NTDACJOWTCITMOTPI ~ To Be Successful – Rent-Seekers – Need To Do A Convincing Job Of Wrapping Their Claims In The Mantle Of The Public Interest

~ P-IUUA-AFOR-BIR-C-TANBBTRFT ~ Pollution – Is Usefully Understood As – A Form Of Rent – Because It Represents – Costs – That Are Not Borne By Those Responsible For Them