With $1 billion for clean technology, George Soros gives new meaning to rent seeking

The ringmaster of the Democrat Party says he is about to invest heavily in America's fastest growing enterprise - rent seeking.

No, he didn't use that term. Instead, he said he will invest $1 billion in clean energy technology.

While making that announcement, in Copenhagen, George Soros also said  he would set up and finance a new climate policy initiative with contributions of $10 million a year for 10 years.

In other words, Soros is determined to revive global warming as an issue, and is so confident he can make money that he is making a big  bet. Rent seeking has never had bigger poskets, except, of course, for General Electric.

If Soros  makes the $1 billion investment soon, he will be betting that Democrats are able to rescue a moribund cap-and-trade bill that earlier was approved by the House but lies dormant in the Senate. If the Senate goes along, Soros wins and his investments probably would gain value.

Economists use the term rent seeking to describe the capture of income,  profit, or other advantage by an individual or organization through the exploitation or manipulation of the economic environment, rather than production or trading of goods or services.

Lobbyists practice rent seeking routinely by trying to tailor government purchases or specifications to the products offered by the lobbyist's employer. Four months ago, Wal-Mart endorsed a proposed requirement that businesses offer health insurance to employees on grounds it would damage rival Target more than Wal-Mart.

That was  a classic example of rent-seeking.

Soros is unusual, however, in that he is a powerful figure in the Democrat Party, contributing or raising milions of dollars for campaigns and operating organizations that campaign aggressively on issues. He will help to determine who enables, or hinders, his rent seeking.

Accuracy in Media said of Soros that he "may be the biggest political fat cat of all time. Convicted in France of insider trading, Soros specializes in weakening or collapsing the currencies of entire nations for his own selfish interests. He is known as the man who broke the Bank of England. His power is such that his statements alone can cause currencies to go up or down. Other people suffer so he can get rich."

That singlemindedness may again be at play. China and India have rebuffed pressure to enact policies to curb alleged gloval walrming. If the United States proceeds with cap-and-trade, domestic producers will experience a rise in costs and take a hit in international trade.

He already is rich, ranking 29th on Fortune's list of the wealthiest in the world, with an estimated net worth of $11 billion.

In 2004, Soros spent nearly $24 million in a failed effort to defeat President George W. Bush.

While cap-and-trade appears to be Soros's primary interest in the political arena, he also has strong views on an issue related to Preident Barack Obama's proposed health care overhaul.

Soros founded the Open Society Institute, which, from 2001 to 2003, developed a "Project on Death in America." One of the project's objectives was to "understand and transform the culture and experience of dying and bereavement."

In 1994, Soros delivered a speech in which he reported that he had offered to help his mother, a member of the Hemlock Society, commit suicide. In the same speech, he also endorsed the Oregon Death with Dignity Act, whose campaign he helped to finance.

The issue is relevant because critics of the Democrats' health care proposal contend that it would inevitably lead to rationing of care, and earlier death,  for the aged and terminally ill.