你可以透過創造財富或掠奪他人創造的財富而致富。非法掠奪他人的財富，叫做盜竊或者欺詐。而合法掠奪他人財富的行徑，經濟學家稱之為尋租。Rent-seeking takes many forms. On Europe"s oldest highway, the Rhine river, the castles on rocky outcrops date from the time when bandits with aristocratic titles extracted tolls from passing traffic. In poor countries the focus of political and business life is often rent-seeking rather than wealth creation. That helps explain why some countries are rich and others poor.尋租有許多種形式。在歐洲最古老的交通要道萊茵河上，屹立在兩邊巖岸上的城堡，可以追溯到久遠的時期那時候，頂著貴族頭銜的強盜們向過往船隻收取通行費。在貧窮國家，政治及商業生活的重點往往是尋租，而非創造財富。這有助於解釋為何有些國家富裕、而有些國家貧窮。Rent-seeking drives the paradoxical resource curse. Oil or mineral wealth mostly reduces the population"s standard of living because it diverts effort and talent from wealth creation to rent-seeking. Sadly, foreign aid often has a similar effect.尋租造成了資源的詛咒這種怪現象。石油或礦業財富大多使人民的生活水準下降，因為它們把人們的才能和努力從創造財富轉移到了尋租上。可悲的是，外國援助往往具有同樣的效果。Rent-seeking can be effected through rake-offs on government contracts, or the appropriation of state assets by oligarchs and the relatives of politicians.寡頭和官員的親屬可以透過從政府合同上拿回扣，或是侵佔國家資產，來實現尋租。But in more advanced economies, rent-seeking takes more sophisticated forms. Instead of 10 per cent on arms sales, we have 7 per cent on new issues. Rents are often extracted indirectly from consumers rather than directly from government: as in protection from competition from foreign goods and new entrants, and the clamour for the extension of intellectual property rights. Rents can also be secured through overpaid employment in overmanned government activities.但在比較發達的經濟體，尋租有著更為複雜的形式。我們不是從軍售中抽取10%的回扣，而是透過增發貨幣獲得7%的利益。租金往往從消費者身上間接獲取，而非直接取自政府：如阻止外國商品和新進入者競爭的保護措施，以及要求延長智慧財產權有效期的呼聲。此外，在人員臃腫的政府部門領取過高的薪水，也是獲取租金的一種形式。Rent-seeking is found whenever economic power is concentrated – in the state, in large private business, in groups of co-operating and colluding firms. Private concentrations of economic power tend to be self-reinforcing. This problem was widely recognised in America"s gilded age. The well-founded fear was that the new mega-rich – the Rockefellers, Carnegies, Vanderbilts – would use their wealth to enhance their political influence and grow their economic power, subverting both the market and democracy. Today it is Russia that exemplifies this problem.凡是經濟權力集中的地方，無論是政府、大型私人企業，還是由串通合作的公司組成的團體中，都會發現尋租行為。在私人領域，經濟權力集中往往具有自我加強的特點。在美國的鍍金時代，人們就已經普遍認識到這一問題。人們有理由擔心，洛克菲勒(Rockefeller)、卡內基(Carnegie)和範德比爾特(Vanderbilt)等新鉅富家族可能利用自身的財力，擴大自己的政治影響力和經濟權力，把市場和民主踩在腳下。如今的俄羅斯又成了這方面的例證。But America has a new generation of rent-seekers. The modern equivalents of castles on the Rhine are first-class lounges and corporate jets. Their occupants are investment bankers and corporate executives.但美國已出現了新一代尋租者。現代的頭等艙候機室和公司商務飛機，就相當於古代萊茵河兩岸的城堡。它們的使用者是投資銀行家和企業高管。Control of rent-seeking requires decentralisation of economic power. These policies involve limits on the economic role of the state; constraints on the concentration of economic power in large business; constant vigilance at the boundaries between government and industry; and a mixture of external supervision and internal norms to limit the capacity of greedy individuals in large organisations to grab corporate rents for themselves. Vigorous pursuit of these is the difference between a competitive market economy and a laisser-faire regime, and it is a large difference.抑制尋租行為，要求分散經濟權力。相關策略包括：限制政府在經濟中所扮演的角色；限制經濟權力集中於大型企業的現象；時刻警惕政府與產業界之間的界線；外部監督與內部規範相結合，限制大型機構中貪婪者在公司牟取私利的能力。熱切追逐這些利益，是競爭性市場經濟與自由市場經濟的區別，而且是一個重大區別。Privatisation and the breaking up of statutory monopolies has reduced rent-seeking by organised groups of public employees. But the scale of corporate rent-seeking activities by business and personal rent-seeking by senior individuals in business and finance has increased sharply.私有化和打破法定壟斷，減少了有組織的公共僱主群體的尋租行為。但是，在商界和金融界，企業的法人尋租活動和高管的個人尋租活動都明顯增多。The outcomes can be seen in the growth of Capitol Hill lobbying and the crowded restaurants of Brussels; in the structure of industries such as pharmaceuticals, media, defence equipment and, of course, financial services; and in the explosion of executive remuneration.從國會遊說活動增多，布魯塞爾餐館林立，醫藥、傳媒、國防裝備和金融服務等行業的結構，以及高管薪酬飛漲等方面，都可以看出尋租活動的後果。Because innovation is dependent on new entry it is essential to resist concentration of economic power. A stance which is pro-business must be distinguished from a stance which is pro-market. In the two decades since the fall of the Berlin Wall, that distinction has not been appreciated well enough.創新有賴於新鮮血液的加入，因此，抵制經濟權力集中十分必要。必須將親企業與親市場的立場區別開來。柏林牆倒塌後的二十年裡，這種區別沒有得到足夠的重視。
你可以透過創造財富或掠奪他人創造的財富而致富。非法掠奪他人的財富，叫做盜竊或者欺詐。而合法掠奪他人財富的行徑，經濟學家稱之為尋租。Rent-seeking takes many forms. On Europe"s oldest highway, the Rhine river, the castles on rocky outcrops date from the time when bandits with aristocratic titles extracted tolls from passing traffic. In poor countries the focus of political and business life is often rent-seeking rather than wealth creation. That helps explain why some countries are rich and others poor.尋租有許多種形式。在歐洲最古老的交通要道萊茵河上，屹立在兩邊巖岸上的城堡，可以追溯到久遠的時期那時候，頂著貴族頭銜的強盜們向過往船隻收取通行費。在貧窮國家，政治及商業生活的重點往往是尋租，而非創造財富。這有助於解釋為何有些國家富裕、而有些國家貧窮。Rent-seeking drives the paradoxical resource curse. Oil or mineral wealth mostly reduces the population"s standard of living because it diverts effort and talent from wealth creation to rent-seeking. Sadly, foreign aid often has a similar effect.尋租造成了資源的詛咒這種怪現象。石油或礦業財富大多使人民的生活水準下降，因為它們把人們的才能和努力從創造財富轉移到了尋租上。可悲的是，外國援助往往具有同樣的效果。Rent-seeking can be effected through rake-offs on government contracts, or the appropriation of state assets by oligarchs and the relatives of politicians.寡頭和官員的親屬可以透過從政府合同上拿回扣，或是侵佔國家資產，來實現尋租。But in more advanced economies, rent-seeking takes more sophisticated forms. Instead of 10 per cent on arms sales, we have 7 per cent on new issues. Rents are often extracted indirectly from consumers rather than directly from government: as in protection from competition from foreign goods and new entrants, and the clamour for the extension of intellectual property rights. Rents can also be secured through overpaid employment in overmanned government activities.但在比較發達的經濟體，尋租有著更為複雜的形式。我們不是從軍售中抽取10%的回扣，而是透過增發貨幣獲得7%的利益。租金往往從消費者身上間接獲取，而非直接取自政府：如阻止外國商品和新進入者競爭的保護措施，以及要求延長智慧財產權有效期的呼聲。此外，在人員臃腫的政府部門領取過高的薪水，也是獲取租金的一種形式。Rent-seeking is found whenever economic power is concentrated – in the state, in large private business, in groups of co-operating and colluding firms. Private concentrations of economic power tend to be self-reinforcing. This problem was widely recognised in America"s gilded age. The well-founded fear was that the new mega-rich – the Rockefellers, Carnegies, Vanderbilts – would use their wealth to enhance their political influence and grow their economic power, subverting both the market and democracy. Today it is Russia that exemplifies this problem.凡是經濟權力集中的地方，無論是政府、大型私人企業，還是由串通合作的公司組成的團體中，都會發現尋租行為。在私人領域，經濟權力集中往往具有自我加強的特點。在美國的鍍金時代，人們就已經普遍認識到這一問題。人們有理由擔心，洛克菲勒(Rockefeller)、卡內基(Carnegie)和範德比爾特(Vanderbilt)等新鉅富家族可能利用自身的財力，擴大自己的政治影響力和經濟權力，把市場和民主踩在腳下。如今的俄羅斯又成了這方面的例證。But America has a new generation of rent-seekers. The modern equivalents of castles on the Rhine are first-class lounges and corporate jets. Their occupants are investment bankers and corporate executives.但美國已出現了新一代尋租者。現代的頭等艙候機室和公司商務飛機，就相當於古代萊茵河兩岸的城堡。它們的使用者是投資銀行家和企業高管。Control of rent-seeking requires decentralisation of economic power. These policies involve limits on the economic role of the state; constraints on the concentration of economic power in large business; constant vigilance at the boundaries between government and industry; and a mixture of external supervision and internal norms to limit the capacity of greedy individuals in large organisations to grab corporate rents for themselves. Vigorous pursuit of these is the difference between a competitive market economy and a laisser-faire regime, and it is a large difference.抑制尋租行為，要求分散經濟權力。相關策略包括：限制政府在經濟中所扮演的角色；限制經濟權力集中於大型企業的現象；時刻警惕政府與產業界之間的界線；外部監督與內部規範相結合，限制大型機構中貪婪者在公司牟取私利的能力。熱切追逐這些利益，是競爭性市場經濟與自由市場經濟的區別，而且是一個重大區別。Privatisation and the breaking up of statutory monopolies has reduced rent-seeking by organised groups of public employees. But the scale of corporate rent-seeking activities by business and personal rent-seeking by senior individuals in business and finance has increased sharply.私有化和打破法定壟斷，減少了有組織的公共僱主群體的尋租行為。但是，在商界和金融界，企業的法人尋租活動和高管的個人尋租活動都明顯增多。The outcomes can be seen in the growth of Capitol Hill lobbying and the crowded restaurants of Brussels; in the structure of industries such as pharmaceuticals, media, defence equipment and, of course, financial services; and in the explosion of executive remuneration.從國會遊說活動增多，布魯塞爾餐館林立，醫藥、傳媒、國防裝備和金融服務等行業的結構，以及高管薪酬飛漲等方面，都可以看出尋租活動的後果。Because innovation is dependent on new entry it is essential to resist concentration of economic power. A stance which is pro-business must be distinguished from a stance which is pro-market. In the two decades since the fall of the Berlin Wall, that distinction has not been appreciated well enough.創新有賴於新鮮血液的加入，因此，抵制經濟權力集中十分必要。必須將親企業與親市場的立場區別開來。柏林牆倒塌後的二十年裡，這種區別沒有得到足夠的重視。