[EL] The cost of opting out of public financing

[Derek Muller]

Dear all,

I wondered if there have been any studies done calculating how much more
the presidential candidates spent this cycle, in the primaries and in the
general election, than if everyone had opted into public financing. My
back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest that this has driven up the costs
dramatically (both candidates would have spent only $180MM combined in the
general!), but most of the attention in "the mainstream media" or "the
blogosphere" has focused on *Citizens United* and independent expenditures
(which, admittedly, have also increased dramatically).

Best,

Derek

Derek T. Muller

Associate Professor of Law

Pepperdine University School of Law

24255 Pacific Coast Hwy.

Malibu, CA 90263

+1 310-506-7058

SSRN Author Page: http://ssrn.com/author=464341
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