The danger, of course, is that competition for consumers will be replaced by competition for political pull. There are thousands of instances of companies lobbying for tariffs, price supports, subsidies, and restrictions on their competition, all for their own self-interest and profits of course. When such lobbying is successful, capitalism becomes about sucking up to power and cultivating the coercive powers of the state to be on one’s side, rather than about lowering costs, lowering prices, improving quality, and serving consumers.
-Tyler Cowan ( Big Business: A Love Letter to an American Anti-Hero)
