ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the application of public choice theory to federal funding of science. Traditionally, economists had looked at government as being "the public interest personified." The chapter also looks at what public choice theory has to say about the "theory of bureaucracy," about the "politician as entrepreneur," and about "rent-seeking." In the economic literature, government was looked upon as an impersonal entity that could act in a unified manner, judiciously balancing the interests of all members of the public to achieve the greatest benefit for society. In particular, economists looked upon government as a corrective mechanism for "market failure." There are fundamentally only two ways to obtain wealth: "make it" or "take it." The first involves the production of new wealth; the second involves the redistribution of existing wealth. The first is an economic process; the second is a political process.
