Corporate welfare is a term that
analogizes corporate
subsidies to
welfare payments for the poor. The term is often used to describe a government's bestowal of money grants,
tax breaks, or other special favorable treatment on
corporations or selected corporations, and implies that corporations are much less needy of such treatment than the poor. The term is used interchangeably with
crony capitalism; to the extent that there is a difference, the corporate welfare might be restricted only to direct government subsidies of major corporations, excluding tax loopholes and all manner of regulatory and trade decisions, which in practice could be much larger than any direct subsidies. The term, "Corporate Welfare", was reportedly invented in 1956 by
Ralph Nader; conservatives like
Grover Norquist prefer "Crony capitalism".