Gerrymandering isn’t just a problem for democracy: it’s a drag on the economy. By turning many seats “safe,” partisan maps weaken the link between performance and reelection. When that accountability slope flattens, officials exert less effort on broad public goals and channel more favors to allies. Those favors distort where private firms invest (through taxes, permits, and credit) and where public money goes (roads, ports, broadband). The result is capital piling up in politically favored places rather than where it earns the highest return, which lowers productivity and growth, and compounds the losses as the bias becomes more entrenched. The fix doubles as productivity policy: restore contestability with independent redistricting and transparent rules, and insulate infrastructure choices with rigorous cost-benefit criteria and sunset clauses for place-based subsidies.