As Wall Street seeks more complex ways to make a buck, a little-known industry known as the political-intelligence business has been seeing big benefits, according to political magazine Mother Jones.
Companies such as Jellyfish deal with such political intelligence, garnering behind-the-scenes information regarding regulations or tax code modifications and relaying the news to corporate clients so they can make investment decisions.
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The flourishing political-intelligence industry is becoming increasingly lucrative, raking in just over $400 million in 2009.
"All they're doing is discovering the information and conveying it," says Jack Abramoff, a former-lobbyist-turned reformer. "I'm not even sure if you made it illegal there's any way to enforce it. It's ingenious."
(To read the full story from Mother Jones, click here)