crony capitalism

[ kroh-nee kap-i-tl-iz-uhm ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

an economic system in which success in business is obtained through relationships to people in political power rather than through competition:
The fact that only a few well-connected developers can get projects approved does seem like the sort of favoritism inherent in crony capitalism.

First recorded in 1980–85

Democrats need to respond aggressively to the crony capitalism practiced by many Republicans, particularly regarding Wall Street.

In 2012, he voted to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank, one of the purest excresences of crony capitalism imaginable.

Adam Smith wrote “The Wealth of Nations” to denounce mercantilism, the crony capitalism of his day.

After a sex scandal, a onetime fighter for the middle class learned to love crony capitalism.

The particulars of this case, in fact, reek with the stench of crony capitalism.

There, they spun off a malignant, pathological, form of crony capitalism.

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