Reading Bryan Caplan's new book, The Myth of the Rational Voter. Since you can not escape the campaign news about the upcoming primary events, the follow quote is a very sobering thought.
When a consumer has mistaken beliefs about what to buy, he foots the bill. When a voter has mistaken beliefs about government policy, the whole population picks up the tab.
What is the probability of such mistaken beliefs? I would guess that even a failing student in Econ. 101 has a significant knowledge advantage over the average voter.
Wes-
ReplyDeleteI would have e-mailed you, but I couldn't find any contact info. My name is Peter Myers, and I'm running for Congress as a Green in the 15th District. I hope you can put up a link to my web site, http://www.myersforcalifornia.com/ , and perhaps help in other ways in the future as well.
Thanks for your help,
Peter