December 1, 2006 10:52AM 

# Muggles Aren’t The Only Rent-Seekers 

By [Thomas A. Firey](https://www.cato.org/people/thomas-firey) 

---

<a class="js-popover-trigger cursor-pointer popover-trigger" data-bs-placement="bottom" data-bs-trigger="click" id="popover-trigger"> 

SHARE 

</a> 

I confess: I’m a big fan of [J.K. Rowlings](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JK_Rowling)’ [Harry Potter](http://www.scholastic.com/harrypotter/) series. One of the reasons (OK, not one of the bigger reasons, but still *one* of the reasons) is the books’ wonderful cynicism about government and politics.

Consider Rowlings’ most recent update of [her website](http://www.jkrowling.com/), in which she announces the December “Wizard of the Month”:

> Laurentia Fletwock 
> *1947 – present* Celebrated breeder and racer of winged horses. Has campaigned for tighter restrictions on broomstick use.

I guess [muggles](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muggle) aren’t the only [rent-seekers](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent-seeking).

##### Related Tags 

[General](https://www.cato.org/general), [Regulation](https://www.cato.org/regulatory-studies) 

[![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) 
This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).