… is from page 93 of Douglas Irwin’s superb 2011 book, Peddling Protectionism: Smoot-Hawley and the Great Depression:
The problem was that each member of Congress looked out for the special producer interests in his or her particular district without considering the broader national interest, particularly those not represented in the legislative process.
DBx: I’m aware that protectionists and proponents of industrial policy think it to be unfair or contemptible for someone to point out that government officials aren’t angels – that politicians are driven first and foremost by political interests that frequently are at odds with the public interest. It’s considered appropriate to ignore the realities of politics. But to ignore the realities of politics, of course, is wholly unreasonable and unscientific. Yet tolerance for – indeed, insistence upon – this particular manifestation of unreasonableness and rejection of science, which has always been strong among persons on the political left, has blossomed also on the political right.
