For politicians, the red tape that ensnarls citizens is a feature, not a bug, of government

The Free-Market Innovation Machine:

For the bulk of the population of earlier periods of history, bare survival was the critical problem, and it left only minimal resources for investment in education and productive capacity.  Only the productive surpluses that innovation began to make possible, first in agriculture and mining and then in manufacturing, made feasible the enormous increases in investment in inanimate and in human capital that are widely judged to have contributed greatly to economic growth.

William Baumol’s 2002 volume

, The Strategic Constitution:

Following the principle, “The best guide to a maze is its architect,” legislators have an incentive to create a bureaucratic maze so that voters reject challengers and rely on incumbents as guides.  Thus, incumbent politicians sometimes seek an electoral advantage by increasing the complexity of administration faced by citizens and retaining control over it.

For politicians, the red tape that ensnarls citizens is a feature, not a bug, of government

Robert Cooter’s 2000 book