Yesterday I posted an article describing the act of rent seeking: “[A]ll of the various ways by which individuals or groups lobby government for taxing, spending and regulatory policies that confer financial benefits or other special advantages upon them at the expense of the taxpayers or of consumers or of other groups or individuals with which the beneficiaries may be in economic competition.” - Auburn University Glossy of Political Economy Terms
In this article, I used Merck and its lobbying efforts for governmental mandates of vaccines as a perfect example of rent seeking. Today, Merck receives a separate post so its venn can be more easily searched. It includes Mike Toomey, Texas Governor Perry's chief of staff who was working as a Merck lobbyist when Perry signed the first executive order requiring Merck's Gardisil HPV vaccine be legally mandatory. (The executive order was later overturned.)
It also includes Merck CEO Ken Frazier who was a member of one of President Trump's business advisory councils until leaving in protest over Trump's handling of the violence that occurred in Charlottesville, Virginia.
