Rent-seeking

A broad term used to describe the practice of grabbing a bigger slice of the cake without adding more value. A company might lobby the government to grant it profitable contracts on sweetheart terms, or to impose regulations that stifle competitors. See crony capitalism (and our index). The most basic private-sector example of rent-seeking is a protection racket, in which criminals demand a cut of (say) a bar-owner’s or shopkeeper’s revenue.