“Regulatory capture” is a counterintuitive concept to some, but it makes perfect sense to those who have watched Washington work.

The idea here is that government regulators end up being a boon to the big businesses they are regulating, at the expense of competitors, customers, workers, and taxpayers. The reason: Nobody cares more about the actions of the regulators than do the regulated, and so over time, the regulated companies will take over the agency.