Although the term crony capitalism has rarely been used in the academic literature, its components—rent seeking, regulatory capture, political entrepreneurship, and interest-group politics—have been studied extensively. Their common element is the political use of power to benefit some at the expense of others, a phenomenon that grows as the profitability of businesses comes to depend on how well businesses can secure subsidies, tax breaks, and regulations that work in their favor.
Randall G. Holcombe is a Senior Fellow at the Independent Institute, DeVoe Moore Professor of Economics at Florida State University, and author of the Independent book Liberty in Peril: Democracy and Power in American History.
Antitrust, Competition, and MonopolyContemporary PoliticsCorporate WelfareEconomyFree Market EconomicsGovernment and PoliticsGovernment PowerGovernment Waste/PorkLaw and LibertyPolitical TheoryPublic ChoiceRegulationTaxes and Budget
Other Independent Review articles by Randall G. Holcombe
Spring 2024 Privatize the Public Sector: Murray Rothbard’s Stateless Libertarian Society
Winter 2023/24 Rethinking Economics as Social Theory
Spring 2023 Generation Gap: Why Baby Boomers Still Dominate American Politics and Culture
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