a. This would raise productivity, since they are currently (by assumption) just redis­tributing income, not producing output. 

b. They would probably earn less, not more. 

c. Lobbyists in Washington, D.C., are paid to shift revenue from some people (most­ly consumers) to other people (mostly firms): Although this can be profitable to the lobbyists, it doesn’t increase output. If the lobbyists found private-sector employment outside the lobbying industry, their own wages would fall but many of them would produce valuable output that would increase consumer surplus— thus shifting lobbyists from lobbying to, say, cookie making would increase total output and national welfare.