You have been asked by a popular blog to write an article about the concept of rent-seeking. The editors assure you that regular readers of the blog will have never before thought about the concept of rent-seeking and how it works in real life, so you must clearly define terms and concisely illustrate concepts using examples.

Assignment

Explain the concept of rent-seeking and use the Folsom book chapter about Vanderbilt and the early history of the steamship industry in the U.S. to illustrate and explain how rent-seeking works in real life--and why rent-seeking matters for the prosperity of an economy.