Bootleggers and Baptists
by rrusczyk, Dec 20, 2009, 4:16 PM
I've read of bootleggers and Baptists in political context a number of times, but this article is probably the best exposition of it I've seen. I can't help but wonder if the current rendition of the health care bill isn't yet another rendition of this brand of special-interest politics, with the insurance companies (and, to a lesser extent, hospitals and doctors) playing the role of the bootleggers.
While I'm not entirely convinced that all of the author's examples are in fact cases of bootleggers and Baptists, I think his broader points about politics are pretty accurate, as is the observation that taxation is a better approach than regulation for issues like pollution. Once the government starts picking winners, politics, not merit, is usually how the winners are chosen.
While I'm not entirely convinced that all of the author's examples are in fact cases of bootleggers and Baptists, I think his broader points about politics are pretty accurate, as is the observation that taxation is a better approach than regulation for issues like pollution. Once the government starts picking winners, politics, not merit, is usually how the winners are chosen.
February 2012
January 2012