American Enterprise Institute's Director of Economic Policy Studies Kevin "Dow 36,000" Hasset believes that democracy poses a threat to the economy(emphasis mine): But being unfree may be an economic advantage. Dictatorships are not hamstrung by the preferences of voters for, say, a pervasive welfare state. So the future may look something like the 20th century in reverse. The unfree nations will grow so quickly that they will overwhelm free nations with their economic might. The unfree will see no reason to transition to democracy. Meanwhile, democracies may copy many of the market-friendly policies of the dictatorships, but it seems unlikely that free citizens will choose to reduce their own political freedoms. Democracies will stay in the game, but, as Arrow showed long ago, their victory is not assured. "I would've gotten away with it too had it not been for those meddling voters!"