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An economics approach to understanding electoral fraud
It’s all about the incentives
Economics is all about incentives. Consider how economists talk about unemployment compensation. They worry that if the payments are too generous, people will choose unemployment rather than working.
Indeed, capitalism itself is based upon the idea that if you give people the opportunity to earn more if they work harder, you will encourage higher productivity. In general, this theory seems to hold up.
This way of thinking has been highly influential. Consider sin taxes. We have decided that stopping smoking, especially among young people, is a worthy goal. How do we accomplish that? By making it really expensive with high taxes.
The same idea is driving the argument in favor of a carbon tax, something that economists of all political stripes tend to favor as a way of reducing global warming.
Or how about congestion pricing? That is where you make people pay more for something when it is in higher demand. New York is looking at this approach to address subway overcrowding, and I was just the other day talking with a friend about how parking lots charge more on nights with hockey games.
Conservatives seem to worship at the altar of economics.
