The Senate, the legislature of the fictional country of Romange, is considering legislation that will generate benefits of $25 million and costs of $21 million. For perspective, Romange's population is 50 million. Passing the legislation is , and if everyone in Romange shared equally in both its benefits and its costs, the Senate will vote the legislation. If the benefits of the legislation are concentrated among a few people instead of widespread among the population, those people will be willing to spend up to
Lobbying the Senate for the legislation. (Note: Assume that the costs are widespread; therefore, you can ignore them in the calculations of the few who experience the benefits.) The more widely spread are the costs of the legislation, the is the likelihood of lobbying against the legislation by those who will incur its costs. Suppose that, as before, the benefits of the legislation are concentrated among a small group, but the costs of the legislation are concentrated among another small group, and the Senate is responsive to lobbying. The people who will be harmed by the legislation will be willing to spend on lobbying up to , in which case the Senate will likely vote the legislation.