The Left Flunks Econ 101

Wednesday, June 9th, 2010

Who is better informed about the policy choices facing the country, Dan Klein asks, liberals, conservatives or libertarians?

According to a Zogby International survey that I write about in the May issue of Econ Journal Watch, the answer is unequivocal: The left flunks Econ 101.

Zogby researcher Zeljka Buturovic and I considered the 4,835 respondents’ (all American adults) answers to eight survey questions about basic economics.

Respondents were asked if they strongly agree, somewhat agree, and so on, to the eight statements, and they were scored incorrect only if their response was flatly unenlightened:

Restrictions on housing development make housing less affordable (unenlightened answer: disagree).
Mandatory licensing of professional services increases the prices of those services (unenlightened answer: disagree).
Overall, the standard of living is higher today than it was 30 years ago (unenlightened answer: disagree).
Rent control leads to housing shortages (unenlightened answer: disagree).
A company with the largest market share is a monopoly (unenlightened answer: agree).
Third World workers working for American companies overseas are being exploited (unenlightened answer: agree).
Free trade leads to unemployment (unenlightened answer: agree).
Minimum wage laws raise unemployment (unenlightened answer: disagree).

How did the six ideological groups do overall?

Here they are, best to worst, with an average number of incorrect responses from 0 to 8: Very conservative, 1.30; Libertarian, 1.38; Conservative, 1.67; Moderate, 3.67; Liberal, 4.69; Progressive/very liberal, 5.26.

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Gaikokumaniakku: Possibly relevant: https://www.laserfocuswo rld.com/lasers-sources/a rticle/14211951/testing- 50-kw-lasers-in-weapon-s ystems I did a few searches trying to find good news about long-range electrolasers, but I only found short-range devices suitable for clearing IEDs.
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Lu An Li: For McChuck and thank you. Makes sense. Unity of command.
McChuck: Just as there can only be one king, and army may only have a single commander. Command, by its very nature, rests upon a single head. Two commanders will constantly butt heads, confusing the troops and adding to the natural chaos of war. They often end up fighting each other more than the enemy. Even if they have the best of intentions, two commanders will inadvertently misdirect each others’ troops and interfere with each others’ plans.
Lucklucky: Maybe bad translation. But i think it means it is better to have 1 good and 1 bad than 2 good to be able to choose.
Lu An Li: “I believe it would be better to have one bad general than to have two good ones.” Someone explain this to me.
Gaikokumaniakku: After the lemur bites the millipede, it sprays its toxic secretion, which the lemur then rubs all over its fur. Research suggests that there is a practical purpose to this: the benzoquinone secretion functions as a natural pesticide and wards off malaria-carrying mosquitos. The secretion also acts as a narcotic, which causes the lemur to salivate profusely and enter a state of intoxication.
Freddo: If you want to reach the mass market you need an equally sized megaphone (or a lot of luck). A push by Oprah will do it, Joe Rogan probably to a lesser extend. Amazons algorithm and star rating have been wokified to the point of uselessness; goodreads fast approaching the same point. Aspiring writers get the advice to build their own internet presence, but that of course is a lot of work by itself. I like the concept of a book bomb where a group of like-minded authors do a push of a new novel.
Felix: And, no mention of romance novels. Aren’t they supposed to be 50% or better of books sold? Sure, there are big name romance writers. A lot of them, if the grocery store is indicative. But. No mention?
Felix: Jim, what are the important, unread books you have in mind?
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David Foster: Does this include books sold for Kindle and other e-readers? Sounds like it doesn’t. Also, I wonder how much more effectively books could be marketed by people outside the publishing establishment.

Isegoria

The Left Flunks Econ 101

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