The Mikado

[Michael McConnell]

> I appreciate your kind words about our piece.  I look forward to finding out what the formidable (and altogether candid) Harriet thinks of it. (Is she ready to go of to college, or does she have anot>

Harriet is in 10th grade, so she has a few year left before the
college decision.

> Sandy
>
> PS:  I'm sure you're right that seniority plays an important role in explaining Western pork, but I do think that the Mountain States, taken together, comprise a powerful voting bloc in the Senate on>

I am sure that is right. Federal grazing policy, for example, is very
difficult to justify on public interest grounds. But I notice that
other regions also seem to have their peculiar (and equally
indefensible) benefits. Have you been following the squabble in the
Senate over dismantling the old milk pricing regime? Public choice
analysis tells us that a small group with a concentrated interest
will often defeat a generalized public interest. Perhaps the unequal
representation in the Senate contributes to that in some cases, but
it is hardly necessary: and in some cases (where the special
interest is that of urbanites) it may cut the other way.
-- Michael McConnell (U of Utah)