A most frustrating thing about many kinds of protectionist economic policies is that frequently the people who would benefit from the opposite policy aren't all

A most frustrating thing about many kinds of protectionist economic policies is that frequently the people who would benefit from the opposite policy aren't allowed to vote to count the value of it. The people who would get hired if you didn't put this policy in place are the ones who don't get to vote against it. The people who would be able to afford to live in a city that has rent control, don't get to vote against it. It's not until you have some external shock that shows you how much this little island of protectionist policy has cost you that you realize what it did. And in the meantime you've favored and built up a system that is that much less resilient to whatever new problems you face.