New research finds that the ‘Citizens United’ decision boosted economic growth. | iStock/Svetlana Shamshurina/Natalya Kosarevich
Money isn’t often seen as the great equalizer — especially when it comes to politics.
But in one of the first studies into the economic consequences of Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission, in which the U.S. Supreme Court lifted most restrictions on campaign spending, Stanford’s Greg Buchak casts doubt on the idea that money in politics is universally a zero-sum game.
Buchak, an associate professor of finance at Stanford Graduate School of Business and a faculty fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR), finds that the 2010 Citizens United decision boosted economic growth in the states whose campaign finance restrictions were deemed unconstitutional and that the gains from that boon mostly went to workers.
Not only did wages increase, but hiring and business incomes, especially among younger firms, also rose, according to the study.
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