Do free-market economies have inherent weaknesses that create long-run tendencies toward cronyism? If so—and the evidence suggests this is the case—then the best dose of prevention may be to empower entrepreneurs who do not want to become rent seekers and constrain state actors from selling off rents in the first place.

Michael C. Munger is Senior Fellow and former co-editor of The Independent Review at the Independent Institute, and Professor of Political Science, Economics and Public Policy and Director of the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics Program at Duke University.
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Mario Villarreal-Diaz is associate professor in the Department of Political Economy and Moral Science at the University of Arizona.
Bureaucracy and GovernmentEconomic History and DevelopmentEconomyGovernment and PoliticsGovernment PowerGovernment Waste/PorkLaw and LibertyPolitical HistoryPolitical Theory
Other Independent Review articles by Michael C. Munger
Spring 2023 The Bright and Shiny Soul of Geoffrey Brennan (1944–2022)
Spring 2023 Wild Problems: A Guide to the Decisions That Define Us
Spring 2023 The Soul of Classical Political Economy: James Buchanan from the Archives
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