Politicians and policy experts like to talk about the “root causes” of crime, homelessness, poverty, rising prices and other problems. If they want to understand the root cause of political polarization, they might want to consider the whole picture and look in the mirror.

In a book published 40 years ago, economist and political philosopher Anthony de Jasay (1925-2019) proposed an explanation that did not receive the attention it deserved. Born in Hungary and trained as an economist at Oxford University, de Jasay spent most of his professional life as a banker and financier in France. He published his first book, “The State,” in 1985; it was republished in America in 1998.

In de Jasay’s view, politics is necessarily polarizing. It is just a matter of degree. The larger the scope of the

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