Political Distortions and Economic Development: The 31st Kuznets Memorial Lecture with Leonard Wantchekon

In this lecture, Professor Wantchekon will discuss recent research on the role of political institutions in economic growth and development. He will focus on frictions induced by the political process, which allows those in power to distort economic activities and public investments, and weaken market competition. Finally, Wantchekon will provide an overview of institutional reforms that may curb such distortions, including improvement in government transparency, antitrust legislations, bureaucratic reforms, and campaign finance laws.