What are some of the "unseen" effects that political entrepreneurs can have on the economy by effectively excluding other firms from the marketplace? @haydenhirzel12
For this discussion, I will be using the following definition of political entrepreneurialism: "a businessman who seeks to gain profit through subsidies, protectionism, government contracts, or other such favorable arrangements with government through political influence" -- Source. And the "unseen" refers to Dr. Per Byland's theory describing the aspects of what could have been in our society if we did not take the exact steps that have led us to where we are today. This theory characterizes the fiscal choices that governments and individuals make, and compare them to possible alternate realities if different plans were followed. This view sounds pessimistic, but these comparisons are really made in hopes to bring about critical thinking to policy decisions.
These two ideas of political entrepreneurs and the theory of the unseen do have interplay with each other, especially since this variety of entrepreneur is bound tightly to the governmental system. It can be argued that political entrepreneurs really are somewhat disrupting the free market economics, as they are feeding off of the various ongoing of governmental institutions. IN other words, they seek opportunity where it is immediate as a result of policy or regulation changes... granted this still takes an enormous amount of skill and competence -- first to recognize the opportunity and then to execute on it. But do these "favorable arrangements with government through political influence" take away opportunity for competition, or rise of alternate businesses in the same market place. I would argue yes. It is easy to see the logical progression that follows from political entrepreneurship leading to institutional contracts and ultimately to a monopolized sector of the economy. I would not necessarily say that political entrepreneurs are excluding others from the market, but it certainly makes the barrier to entry within an industry that has been institutionalized much more difficult. So, one of the unseen effects of political entrepreneurialism could be characterized as the creation of monster businesses as a result of governmental favoritism, boxing out competition and creating a disincentive to compete within a certain sector of the economy.