Morning Must-Read: Steve Teles: Restrain Regressive Rent-Seeking

>…an explosion of regulation in this ‘supposedly deregulatory’ era… regulation that has the effect of redistributing, sometimes dramatically, upward…. Intellectual property protections, especially patents and copyright, have been expanded dramatically…. There is an argument that this expansion has actually reduced innovation, there is no doubt that it has allowed existing firms to use the force of law (rather than the market) to enrich themselves…. The same period has seen a transformation of occupational licensing, from a marginal force in our economic organization to one that is increasingly ubiquitous…. Finally, the incredible growth of the financial sector… also finds its source in government-derived rents… ‘too big to fail.’… By allowing a huge securitized housing finance market.. pushing more and more of American retirement savings into actively managed 401ks and IRAs… the government created the greatest pool of rents in the history of mankind…