October 30, 2003

Buying Work

According to the Center for Public Intgegrity:

Executives, employees and political action committees of the 70 companies that received government contracts for work in either Iraq or Afghanistan contributed slightly more than $500,000 to President Bush's 2000 election campaign, according to a comprehensive study of the contracts released on Tuesday.
Frankly, I am surprised that the number is so small and would be very interested to see what these same companies have already contributed to bush's 2004 campaign fund.

Bribing public officials is also a variant of what economists call rent seeking which is defined by Gordon Tullock:

... the outlay of resources by individuals and organizations in the pursuit of rents created by government
Center For Public Integrity reference via the New York Times.

Posted by Steve on October 30, 2003
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