Bottleneckers

Dick Carpenter talked about his book Bottleneckers: Gaming the Government for Power and Private Profit, in which he looks at how special interest groups advocate for government regulations to benefit their businesses. Mr. Carpenter said conservatives refer to the special interest groups as “crony capitalists” while liberals labels them “fat cats.” He said the name that best describes these groups is “bottlenecker,” a person who advocates for the creation or perpetuation of government regulation, particularly an occupational license, to restrict entry into his or her occupation, thereby accruing an economic advantage without providing a benefit to consumers. close