Proponents of government activism enjoy this information asymmetry. But economists bring more sophisticated and objective analytical tools to the table and thus tend to see and expose the relatively subtle costs. As people are educated about these costs, government activism tends to look less attractive. After all of the relevant factors have been considered, advocates are less likely to see their proposals embraced by the populace. In fact, people are generally unclear about the differences between transactions in economic markets and political markets.
Economic markets feature mutually beneficial trade between two parties.
Political markets feature mutually beneficial trade between two parties at the expense of a third party. The mechanisms of the two market transactions are fundamentally different. First, political markets are largely coercive, since money is forcibly taken from the general public. Economic markets are typically voluntary in that the customer willingly gives his money to the storeowner. This characterization is a bit exaggerated for both markets.