Political competition

Competition is a very good thing, in everyday markets as well as in political markets. The insights of public choice economics are clear once articulated and even more appealing once corroborated by serious research. This is why "Political Competition and Economic Performance" by Timothy Besley, Torsten Persson and Daniel Strum deserves attention.

EU planners and constitution drafters might take note. The free flow of goods, labor, capital and ideas is a wonderful thing. Top-down management is not.

On this side of the pond, Brookings scholars (and many others) are exploring the benefits of metropolitan government. People, moving to small cities in outer suburbs and exurbs, on the other hand, are doing what they can to get out of harm's way.