Rent-Seeking

Two brilliant articles from The Economists outlining the continuing problem of rent-seeking.

From a historical perspective, Mercantilism was essentially an economic system built around rent-seeking. During The Enlightenment classical economists like Adam Smith proposed the notion that rent-seeking was creating an inefficient and distorted economy. As a result Mercantilism was gradually abandoned in favour of Capitalism. Yet, rent-seeking is a still a problem today and will continue to be a problem until there is complete transparency in every transaction. Which will obviously never happen.

http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21598996-political-connections-have-made-many-people-hugely-rich-recent-years-crony-capitalism-may

http://www.economist.com/news/international/21599041-countries-where-politically-connected-businessmen-are-most-likely-prosper-planet