The CHIPS Act: A pork picnic

This is of course the standard story whenever Congress appropriates, or considers appropriating, a new pot of taxpayers’ money. The civics books explain that the people bring a problem to Congress, committees hold hearings and hear from expert witnesses, the issue is debated, Congress then maybe appropriates the money, and selfless experts in the bureaucracy spend it in the national interest. The reality is more like a feeding frenzy to get a piece of every new funding opportunity. As my colleague Scott Lincicome told Politico, “It would almost be corporate malpractice to not go after that cash.” …

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The Nobel laureate F. A. Hayek explained the process 80 years ago in his prophetic book The Road to Serfdom: “As the coercive power of the state will alone decide who is to have what, the only power worth having will be a share in the exercise of this directing power.”

That’s the worst aspect of the growth of lobbying: it indicates that decisions in the marketplace are being crowded out by decisions made by lobbyists and politicians, which means a more powerful government, less freedom, and less economic growth.

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