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Quote by Gordon Tullock

“No doubt exists that rent seeking in general leads to serious inefficiencies in this direct sense, but its indirect damage is even worse. Drawing the bulk of intelligent and energetic people in society into activity that has no social product, or may have a negative social product, is more important in explaining the stagnation of these societies than the direct social cost of the rent seeking.”

Book:Government Failure: A Primer in Public Choice

Work

Government Failure: A Primer in Public Choice

This book serves as an introductory text to public choice theory, which analyzes the decision-making processes within government. It explores how individual incentives and collective actions can lead to inefficient outcomes, providing insights into the challenges and failures inherent in public policy-making. more

Author

Gordon Tullock

Gordon Tullock was a renowned economist known for his contributions to public choice theory, property rights theory, and political economics. He was born on February 13, 1922, and passed away on November 3, 2014. more

“The case may very well be that Congress is willing to restrict campaign contributions because it has these privileges. It is true that incumbents normally get larger contributions than their challengers. The opponents at least get some money, but they do not have access to the perquisites of the incumbent.”

Wells May Cases Willing Congress Privilege Access Campaigns Opponents Contribution Incumbents Campaign Contributions

Author:Gordon Tullock

“I believe I have demonstrated that the voters are characteristically ill-informed when voting on reducing social costs. Furthermore, their primary concern is with wealth transferred to themselves, rather than with social cost efficiency. Logically, this would mean that democratic government would be inefficient in reducing social costs.”