Public choice theory frames democracy’s vote-seeking as inherently inflationary and chaotic

Evidence

Inflation is then the inevitable outcome of democratic governments trying to interfere in the economy. Just as market agents maximize income, so political actors maximize votes: inflation is the inevitable result. Unlike the invisible hand that promotes the public welfare by giving free reign to individuals’ income maximization, the visible hand that maximizes votes brings nothing but chaos to the social order and inflation to the economy. — Mark Blyth, Austerity, 418

Categorization

• DEFINE: Lays out the democracy-as-vote-market symmetrical analogy to the market — the intellectual bedrock of the anti-democratic turn in austerity policy.
• SEED: The symmetry between citizens-as-voters and agents-as-market-maximizers is a clean angle for an essay on how economics imports its assumptions to justify depoliticizing policy.
• XREF: connects to: Public choice theory explains election-driven booms and slumps as vote maximization — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 415; Public choice theory treats all policy as self-interested coalitional maneuvering — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 1583; Public choice theory depicted democratic politics as systematically harming the public interest. — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion: Reinventing Free…, 481 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Public choice theory explains election-driven booms and slumps as vote maximization #expands (0.92) — Mark Blyth, Austerity, 415
• Public choice theory treats all policy as self-interested coalitional maneuvering #expands (0.85) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1583