yes, aka regulatory capture. having really read the article (rather than skimming it the first time), i think this gets at the point of the (rather rambling) e

yes, aka regulatory capture. having really read the article (rather than skimming it the first time), i think this gets at the point of the (rather rambling) essay, trying to distinguish legal scale (in which regulatory capture fits) vs. technical scale (the normal kind of scale). before the 70's, we relied on the latter kind of scale along with a robust focus on decentralizing power, and benfitted from all sorts of innovation (in which government also played a central role with major r&d spending). these days, we rely on legal scale, just being big and being able to throw your weight around, which hides a lot of waste (like concentrating wealth among those who don't know how to innovate with it). and we're losing, not just against other countries, but compared to our former selves.