Bootleggers and Baptists: How Economic Forces and Moral Persuasion Interact to Shape Regulatory Politics

摘要

In 1983, economist Bruce Yandle offered an illustration in the journal Regulation that helped change the way economists think about public policy. Drawing on the history of Blue Laws and Prohibition, Yandle noted that public policies tend to be supported by "bootleggers," who saw their incomes increase as a result of a particular policy (as bootleggers did under Prohibition and under Blue Laws), and "Baptists," who supported public policies for moral reasons (Baptists tended to support prohibition and Blue Laws because they believed that alcohol was evil). Yandle used this illustration to explain some of the outcomes he observed during his "education (as) a regulatory economist" ("Bootleggers and Baptists: The Education of a Regulatory Economist," Regulation 7, no. 3 [1983]: 12-16).