ABSTRACT
Randall Bartlett has produced quite a book. Evolved from a doctoral dissertation at Stanford under John Gurley, Robert Coen, and Michael Boskin, the book is an interesting, suggestive, and important contribution to the economic analysis of government. Bartlett emphasizes the economic foundations of politics, but his analysis also incorporates the political foundations of the economy. The chapter proceeds from three explicit assumptions. First, individuals are assumed to be motivated by their self-interest, not just some but all individuals, specifically, consumers, producers, elected officials, and government bureaucrats. Second, individuals are assumed to act rationally in the sense that their actions will attempt to move them closer to the realization of their chosen goals. Third, individuals are assumed to "suffer from a greater or lesser degree of uncertainty relative to the economic and political decisions they must make". The operation of both market and government is shown to give effect to the power structure within the conditions governing the production of influence.
