obviously not the first random thought i’ve ever had. (i remember the one time i was in indianapolis — for a conference — and when i left the venue to get some lunch, i thought to myself, “gee, i don ‘t think i’ve ever seen this many indiana license plates in one place…”)

no, the title is shorthand for “random thought that deserves more investigation but i don’t have time to do the research myself, #1″

so here it is: the founding fathers were aware of public choice theory, even if they didn’t use that name for it.