Gracia Gilreath, Chapter 8, Question 6

The portion of Chapter 8, which discusses how the mohair farmers are subsidized, was very interesting to me because it explained how large groups tend to subsidize smaller groups. The passage explained a theory of political behavior that is suggested by economists. The theory states that it is more beneficial to have a small interest group because the costs for that group are spread among a large portion of the population. National taxes are used by the government to subsidize these small groups. The small groups benefit greatly, while the national tax-payers don't notice the cost because it is spread out so widely. Also, tax-payers may reap the benefits because their money could possibly go toward a small group, which makes something that the tax-payer will use.