Access Quote by James M. Buchanan
“If you have an area where high-income receivers concentrate, you have a higher fiscal capacity. That fiscal capacity is a valuable resource and will create rent-seeking. People will trying to get that resource one way or the other, including immigration. It is very much like the medieval peasants putting their sheep on the commons pasture. It is better than the open range, and if you let them have open access they will, in fact, put too many sheep on the pasture and waste the value that the pasture has.”
About This Quote
Source Book: The Limits of Liberty by James M. Buchanan, 1975
High‑income clusters boost tax revenue, which becomes a target for rent‑seeking and over‑use, similar to commons overgrazing.
In simple terms: Rich areas raise taxes, attracting competition for that money.
Key Takeaway
Guard fiscal resources from over‑exploitation.
Themes
economics
public finance
rent seeking
commons
inequality
Mood
analytical
cautious
Type
theoretical
policy‑oriented
When to use this quote
- tax policy design
- urban planning
- immigration regulation
- environmental management
Key Concepts
public goods
externalities
resource allocation
political economy
Questions to Reflect On
- How can policy balance fiscal capacity with equitable access?
- What mechanisms prevent over‑use of shared resources?
A Different Perspective
Assumes all rent‑seeking is harmful; may ignore beneficial competition.
