It is particularly interesting to note that the word “rent” is often used nowadays in a very different sense: to denote an imperfection in the market (as in “monopoly rent”), or, more generally, to refer to any undue or unjustified income. At times, one almost has the impression that “rent” has become synonymous with “economic ill.” Rent is the enemy of modern rationality and must be eliminated root and branch by striving for ever purer and more perfect competition.
