The intricate relationships between business tycoons and political powerbrokers have shaped economies and societies since the dawn of modern capitalism. Over centuries, these alliances have taken many forms — some enhancing economic development while others extracting parasitic rents. Yet all of them effectively concentrate power and influence within a privileged club of elites, who co-mingle private capital and public policy in a symbiotic process through which they further their mutual interests.
The MAGA movement’s recent embrace of crony capitalism is consequently just a symptom of a deeper historical trend. From the Medici and the Rockefellers to the Castors and the Gandhis, many powerful families throughout history have hitched their fortunes to those of the ruling class— or even transcended to become rulers themselves. The security, stability and influence that come with access to power has been a treasured asset for those brave enough to seek it, those fortunate enough to secure it and those skilled enough to sustain it. But it can also become a dangerous liability when regimes suddenly fall.
