Why Texas Should Be Encouraged to Secede the Union

Ethics of Governor Rick Perry Campaign contributions are effective rent-seeking behavior that has been shown to substantively benefit individuals and business at the same time that it dampens economic growth (Marotta, 2013). Rent-seeking is the term for obtaining special favors from government officials in lieu of productive economic activity (Marotta, 2013). One individual in the state of Texas has mastered the principles of rent-seeking to such a degree that it may be his primary political skill. Governor Rick Perry of Texas practices political favor absent any attempt at slight of hand.

A 2011 editorial on The Opinion Pages of The New York Times provides an apt description of one mechanism that undermines productive economic activity stating that, "There are nearly 600 boards, commissions, authorities, and departments in Texas, many of which are of little use to the public and should have long been shut down or consolidated. They are of great use to the governor…" ("Cash Machine," 2011).

Perry uses these bodies for political appointment for substantive donors to his political campaigns and to maintain a steady stream of money to pro-business funds that have been generous to his campaign ("Cash Machine," 2011). Perry's idea of scratch my back, I'll scratch yours is uncommonly draconian, and smacks of process that is far from democratic. Perry demands unquestioned political loyalty for his favors, even going to far as to dictate who the appointees vote for in state elections ("Cash Machine," 2011).

Two members of the Board of Regents of Texas Tech University were pressured to give up their positions when they refused to disavow their support of Perry's challenger in the gubernatorial race, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison ("Cash Machine," 2011). Two funds were set up by Governor Perry to encourage economic growth, and tens of millions were transferred to companies that contributed to Perry's campaign ("Cash Machine," 2011).

By way of the Texas Enterprise Fund, more than a quarter of the companies that were given grants had been active contributors to Perry campaigns as far as 2001 ("Cash Machine," 2011). The Texas Emerging Technology Fund has given send money to high-tech start-ups -- over $200 million since 2005 -- as directed by Perry, rather than according to an independent grant management agency which is the standard industry practice ("Cash Machine," 2011).

According to economist Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize winner, rent-seeking redistributes money from one part of an economy to the rent-seekers, often to support inefficient or unnecessary projects (as cited in "Cash Machine," 2011). The dynamics of rent-seeking extend beyond a simple exchange of favors, however, as a hollowing out of the economy occurs due to the "centripetal force" of the compelling nature of the graft.

Stiglitz argues that, "the rewards of rent seeking become so outsize that more and more energy is directed toward it, at the expense of everything else" (as cited in "Cash Machine," 2011; Marotta, 2013). Economists are seeing evidence of this phenomenon in the current environment (Marotta, 2013). Rent-seekers spend more time and expend more resources in a never-ending attempt to increase their benefits (Marotta, 2013). This behavior consumes the energy and effort that would otherwise be expended to enlarge the economy, thereby benefitting people and business far from the self-serving vortex.

Indeed, money in politics gravitates toward matters that are not ideological and are certainly less visible, attributes that one would associate with the target issues of rent-seeking entities and individuals (Marotta, 2013). There would seem to be sufficient pay-to-play activity occurring in the political arena without making it the touchstone of a political career, as Perry has done.

Favors are Perry's platform as he has demonstrated his ability to swing in the wind, capitulating any ideology or religious bent he may have cultivated for a time, in order to accomplish the mutual political exchange.