Rent-seeking
Etymology
An economics term from the 1970s. "Rent" is used in the economist’s sense — income from controlling a resource rather than from productive work — extended from the older idea of payment for land. "Seeking" is the pursuit of that unearned return.
noun · /RENT-seek-ing/
Trying to increase your share of existing wealth without creating any new value, often by manipulating rules or access.
What it names
The difference between getting rich by building something and getting rich by capturing a gate — lobbying, licensing rackets, patent trolling.
Example
When firms spend more on lobbying than on research, rent-seeking has quietly replaced innovation.
Related idea
An externality offloads costs onto outsiders; rent-seeking siphons value without adding any.