The Captured Economy, Steven M. Teles
The Captured Economy, Steven M. Teles
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The Captured Economy
How the Powerful Enrich Themselves, Slow Down Growth, and Increase Inequality

Author: Steven M. Teles, Brink Lindsey

Narrator: Shawn Compton

Unabridged: 6 hr 26 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 08/28/2018


Synopsis

For years, America has been plagued by slow economic growth and increasing inequality. Yet economists have long taught that there is a tradeoff between equity and efficiency—that is, between making a bigger pie and dividing it more fairly. That is why our current predicament is so puzzling: today, we are faced with both a stagnating economy and sky-high inequality.

In The Captured Economy, Brink Lindsey and Steven M. Teles identify a common factor behind these twin ills: breakdowns in democratic governance that allow wealthy special interests to capture the policymaking process for their own benefit. They document the proliferation of regressive regulations that redistribute wealth and income up the economic scale while stifling entrepreneurship and innovation. When the state entrenches privilege by subverting market competition, the tradeoff between equity and efficiency no longer holds.

Over the past four decades, new regulatory barriers have worked to shield the powerful from the rigors of competition, thereby inflating their incomes—sometimes to an extravagant degree. Lindsey and Teles detail four of the most important cases: subsidies for the financial sector's excessive risk taking, overprotection of copyrights and patents, favoritism toward incumbent businesses through occupational licensing schemes, and the NIMBY-led escalation of land use controls that drive up rents for everyone else.

Freeing the economy from regressive regulatory capture will be difficult. Lindsey and Teles are realistic about the chances for reform, but they offer a set of promising strategies to improve democratic deliberation and open pathways for meaningful policy change. An original and counterintuitive interpretation of the forces driving inequality and stagnation, The Captured Economy is a "must-listen" for anyone concerned about America's mounting economic problems and the social tensions they are sparking.

About Steven M. Teles

Steven M. Teles is professor of political science at the Johns Hopkins University and a senior fellow at the Niskanen Center. He is the author or coauthor of The Captured Economy, Prison Break, The Rise of the Conservative Legal Movement, and Whose Welfare: AFDC and Elite Politics. In addition, he is coeditor of Conservatism and American Political Development and Ethnicity, Social Mobility, and Public Policy. He has also written widely in a number of general interest publications, from the Nation, Democracy, the Washington Monthly, and the American Prospect to the Public Interest, National Review, and National Affairs.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Eustacia on March 28, 2018

I first heard about this book when it was mentioned on episode 829 of Planet Money. The idea that government regulations could lead to increased inequality was pretty interesting, plus the book was written by a libertarian and an American liberal, something you don't really see, so I decided to read......more

Goodreads review by Vance on January 14, 2018

The authors provide a nice overview of a number of government barriers to competition, such as occupational licensing and zoning, that contribute to forced income inequality and less economic prosperity. Although the overview is done well, their solutions tend to be more government or at least minor......more

Goodreads review by Dustin on September 19, 2018

This is the longest 180-page book you'll read. And not because it was densely packed with complex, thought-provoking passages. The authors can't seem break free of their tedious academic writing style and instead dryly recite conclusions reached elsewhere. Their thesis was perfectly defensible and a......more

Goodreads review by Paul on November 13, 2018

The Captured Economy discusses four broad areas where the rules have been written to protect the advantaged at the expense of everyone else, especially the poor and marginalized. The four areas are finance, intellectual property, housing regulation and zoning, and occupational licensing. In each cas......more

Goodreads review by Kevin on January 25, 2018

I read a lot of economics books and articles, but this one presented maybe the clearest and most densely researched perspective on how post-WWII neoliberalism morphed into a “rentier” economy, resulting in both runaway inequality and sluggish growth. (I borrowed the term “rentier” from elsewhere. Th......more