Feature Essay: Two B&B Foundation Stones

Regulatory analysis requires more than self-interest to understand and explain

The Bootlegger/Baptist theory of government action is not reducible to self-interest alone as it rests on two distinct foundation stones. Each stone is related to one of the words in the theory’s name. The bootlegger stone is associated with the human urge to improve personal wellbeing, what economists think of as rational human behavior. In the origina…