Cronyism would be rampant even if government were limited solely to providing core protective functions. With its rent seeking, rent extraction, and revolving door, the U.S. military sector could be the poster child for peak cronyism.

Christopher J. Coyne is a Senior Fellow at the Independent Institute, Professor of Economics at George Mason University, and Co-Editor of The Independent Review. He is the author of the new book, In Search of Monsters to Destroy: The Folly of American Empire and the Paths to Peace.
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Abigail R. Hall is a Research Fellow at the Independent Institute, and an Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Tampa.
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Other Independent Review articles by Christopher J. Coyne
Spring 2023 How to Run Wars: A Confidential Playbook for the National Security Elite
Spring 2023 The Economic Weapon: The Rise of Sanctions as a Tool of Modern War
Winter 2022/23 Why We Fight: The Roots of War and Paths to Peace
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Other Independent Review articles by Abigail R. Hall
Spring 2023 How to Run Wars: A Confidential Playbook for the National Security Elite
Fall 2021 Militarized Extremism: The Radical Right and the War on Terror
Summer 2021 Walter E. Williams: Scholar, Teacher, and Public Intellectual
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