The Politics of Envy is a fit and proper sequel to the author's previous book, The Politics of Plunder. But beyond the previous collection, Doug Bandow herein offers a theoretical rationale for the current malaise in central government in the United States. He sees the core problem as the immense increase in government spending combined with regulatory machinery that extends to every area of life--from the uses of private property, occupational choices, to issues of employment, trade, and taxation.

Bandow sees these centrifugal forces as gaining ground over personal virtue...