Public Choice

If you're interested in editorials on the European economy I recommend Anthony de Jasay. He has a montly column called Reflections from Europe. His latest column (implicitly) deals with public choice. He calls those who are only interested in short term gain as black hats (as in the bad guys in old western movies). I think every democracy has its share of black hats. The problem is we don't want a dictatorship, but then again, we don't want absolute democracy because then we'll be infested with rent-seekers. Michael Munger goes into some detail in this column about the problem. He does a better job explaining the paradox better than I can so I recommend you read the whole thing.