When a master does not know his own best interests, a disobedient servant can be a blessing. The more misguided the electorate is, the less desirable it is for politicians to unquestioningly grant its wishes. If voters want price controls, a politician with slack can ignore them for their own good. Or he might take money from Big Oil to oppose controls, proverbially turning a private vice into a public virtue. The lesson is that agency “problems” temper majoritarian extremes. Good outcomes become less good, because corrupt politicians stand in the way of the public’s grand design. Bad outcomes
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