💰 Rent-Seeking

These books expose how individuals, corporations, and institutions extract wealth not by creating value but by manipulating rules, capturing regulators, and rigging markets in their favor.

The Price of Inequality

by Joseph E. Stiglitz • 2012

Inequality isn't a market accident. The 1% rewrote the rules, and democracy is the casualty.

4.02

10k+

🏛️ Political Economy 📊 Economic Inequality 💸 Financial Deregulation 🌹 Progressive Economics 🏦 Institutional Economics

The Price of Inequality

Inequality isn't a market accident. The 1% rewrote the rules, and democracy is the casualty.

by Joseph E. Stiglitz 2012

4.02

10k+ ratings

🏛️ Political Economy 📊 Economic Inequality 💸 Financial Deregulation 🌹 Progressive Economics 🏦 Institutional Economics

The Big Con

by Mariana Mazzucato • 2023

Consultancies charge steep fees while offloading risk; governments are their biggest marks.

3.61

2k+

💼 Management Consulting 🏛️ Outsourcing Governance ⚖️ Conflicts Of Interest 🏚️ Institutional Decay 📉 Privatization Critique

The Big Con

Consultancies charge steep fees while offloading risk; governments are their biggest marks.

by Mariana Mazzucato 2023

3.61

2k+ ratings

💼 Management Consulting 🏛️ Outsourcing Governance ⚖️ Conflicts Of Interest 🏚️ Institutional Decay 📉 Privatization Critique

Against Intellectual Monopoly

by Michele Boldrin • 2008

Patents and copyrights were meant to fuel invention. The evidence shows they mostly slow it down.

4.02

395

🧠 Intellectual Property 💡 Innovation Economics 🔬 Multiple Discovery 🔓 Open Innovation 📚 Public Domain

Against Intellectual Monopoly

Patents and copyrights were meant to fuel invention. The evidence shows they mostly slow it down.

by Michele Boldrin 2008

4.02

395 ratings

🧠 Intellectual Property 💡 Innovation Economics 🔬 Multiple Discovery 🔓 Open Innovation 📚 Public Domain

The Value of Everything

by Mariana Mazzucato • 2018

Economics lost the line between earning and extracting. A 150-year mistake now shapes every sector.

4.07

4k+

🏛️ Political Economy 💎 Value Theory 💹 Financialization 📊 Shareholder Capitalism 🔬 Innovation Policy

The Value of Everything

Economics lost the line between earning and extracting. A 150-year mistake now shapes every sector.

by Mariana Mazzucato 2018

4.07

4k+ ratings

🏛️ Political Economy 💎 Value Theory 💹 Financialization 📊 Shareholder Capitalism 🔬 Innovation Policy

The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism

by Martin Wolf • 2023

The system that delivered freedom and prosperity is devouring itself from the inside.

3.91

1k+

🏛️ Political Economy 🗳️ Liberal Democracy 📉 Inequality 🗣️ Populism 🌐 Liberal Internationalism

The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism

The system that delivered freedom and prosperity is devouring itself from the inside.

by Martin Wolf 2023

3.91

1k+ ratings

🏛️ Political Economy 🗳️ Liberal Democracy 📉 Inequality 🗣️ Populism 🌐 Liberal Internationalism

Rewriting the Rules of the American Economy

by Joseph E. Stiglitz • 2015

A Nobel economist reveals which rules broke the American economy, and how to fix them.

3.98

291

🏛️ Political Economy 📉 Inequality Economics 👷 Labor Markets 🏦 Financialization 🔧 Economic Reform

Rewriting the Rules of the American Economy

A Nobel economist reveals which rules broke the American economy, and how to fix them.

by Joseph E. Stiglitz 2015

3.98

291 ratings

🏛️ Political Economy 📉 Inequality Economics 👷 Labor Markets 🏦 Financialization 🔧 Economic Reform

Plutocrats

by Chrystia Freeland • 2012

The new global elite earned its billions. The system isn't fairer; it's more fragile.

3.61

3k+

💰 Income Inequality 🌍 Global Elites 🏆 Superstar Economy 🎭 Political Capture 📈 Social Mobility

Plutocrats

The new global elite earned its billions. The system isn't fairer; it's more fragile.

by Chrystia Freeland 2012

3.61

3k+ ratings

💰 Income Inequality 🌍 Global Elites 🏆 Superstar Economy 🎭 Political Capture 📈 Social Mobility

The Business of America is Lobbying

by Lee Drutman • 2015

Once corporations hire lobbyists, they rarely leave. The feedback loop that keeps them spending.

3.79

🏢 Corporate Lobbying 📊 Political Economy 💼 Corporate Influence 🔒 Regulatory Capture ⚠️ Democratic Erosion

The Business of America is Lobbying

Once corporations hire lobbyists, they rarely leave. The feedback loop that keeps them spending.

by Lee Drutman 2015

3.79

67 ratings

🏢 Corporate Lobbying 📊 Political Economy 💼 Corporate Influence 🔒 Regulatory Capture ⚠️ Democratic Erosion

The Rise and Decline of Nations

by Mancur Olson • 1982

Not lazy workers or bad policy: stable societies choke on accumulated interest groups.

3.96

534

🏛️ Public Choice 🤝 Collective Action 🏚️ Institutional Decay 🎯 Special Interests 🔗 Caste Systems

The Rise and Decline of Nations

Not lazy workers or bad policy: stable societies choke on accumulated interest groups.

by Mancur Olson 1982

3.96

534 ratings

🏛️ Public Choice 🤝 Collective Action 🏚️ Institutional Decay 🎯 Special Interests 🔗 Caste Systems

American Amnesia

by Jacob S. Hacker • 2016

America's wealth was built by government, not just markets. Forgetting that is undoing us.

4.14

674

🏛️ Political Economy 🇺🇸 American Politics 📉 Market Failures 🏢 Corporate Power ⚡ Political Polarization

American Amnesia

America's wealth was built by government, not just markets. Forgetting that is undoing us.

by Jacob S. Hacker 2016

4.14

674 ratings

🏛️ Political Economy 🇺🇸 American Politics 📉 Market Failures 🏢 Corporate Power ⚡ Political Polarization

The Captured Economy

by Brink Lindsey • 2017

Why the economy works for the rich and against everyone else. Four policy levers, no conspiracy.

3.89

416

🔒 Regulatory Capture 📉 Economic Inequality 🏗️ Land Use Regulation 🏦 Financial Regulation 📚 Intellectual Property

The Captured Economy

Why the economy works for the rich and against everyone else. Four policy levers, no conspiracy.

by Brink Lindsey 2017

3.89

416 ratings

🔒 Regulatory Capture 📉 Economic Inequality 🏗️ Land Use Regulation 🏦 Financial Regulation 📚 Intellectual Property

Demosclerosis

by Jonathan Rauch • 1994

Small groups outmaneuver large publics. The cost: a government that gets busier while doing less.

4.10

🏛️ Public Choice Theory 📉 Political Economy 📜 Regulatory Capture 👥 Collective Action Problems 🗳️ Interest Group Politics

Demosclerosis

Small groups outmaneuver large publics. The cost: a government that gets busier while doing less.

by Jonathan Rauch 1994

4.10

29 ratings

🏛️ Public Choice Theory 📉 Political Economy 📜 Regulatory Capture 👥 Collective Action Problems 🗳️ Interest Group Politics

The Corruption of Economics

by Mason Gaffney • 1994

To defeat one reformer, economists rewrote their discipline and deleted land as a category.

4.38

🌍 Georgism 🏠 Land Monopoly 🗳️ Single Tax Movement 📉 Neoclassical Critique 🏛️ Institutional Capture

The Corruption of Economics

To defeat one reformer, economists rewrote their discipline and deleted land as a category.

by Mason Gaffney 1994

4.38

16 ratings

🌍 Georgism 🏠 Land Monopoly 🗳️ Single Tax Movement 📉 Neoclassical Critique 🏛️ Institutional Capture

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💰 Rent-Seeking

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