Running for Office isn't Free

In principle, U.S. citizens are free to run for office. But that doesn't mean that running for office is free!

Read Dr. Wheelen's account.

He says "The harder [running for office] is to do -- in terms of time, fundraising, personal disclosure, and poor pay -- the fewer quality people we should reasonably expect to do it. "

I agree with his prediction (although not that "few quality people" is necessarily a bad outcome). This basic reasoning tells us a lot about what kinds of public policies get made. See, for example

• "Gerontocracy, Retirement, and Social Security"
• "The Extent of the Market and the Supply of Regulation"
• "Political Entry, Public Policies, and the Economy", and
• "Political Competitiveness"