The Economics of Enlightenment
The Wall Street Journal has a piece today by some Zogby pollsters entitled “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?” As it turns out, it has nothing to do with fifth graders– a subject that I’m an expert on, having taught fifth grade for more than a dozen years– but it does have to do with the connection between understanding economics and one’s place on the political spectrum.
According to Daniel B. Kline, the further to the left you are, the dumber you are about economics. No More Mister Nice Blog isn’t buying any of it and he responds with gusto here.
There’s lots of information in the full report here. For instance, the data includes more than correlation with political beliefs :
They indicate that, for people inclined to take such a survey, basic economic enlightenment is not correlated with going to college. We also show economic enlightenment by ideological groups, and we show that the finding about education holds up even when we look within each ideological group (with perhaps the exception of the “conservative” group) We discuss possible explanations for the finding that economic enlightenment is not correlated with going to college.
We also report simple findings for the relation between economic enlightenment and each of the following variables: 2008 presidential vote, party affiliation, voting participation, race or ethnic group, urban vs. rural, religious affiliation, religious participation, union membership, marital status, membership in armed forces, NASCAR fandom, membership in the “investor class,” patronage at Wal-Mart, household income, and gender. Linked appendices provide all data and the survey instrument.
The comments posted at the WSJ are an economic education in themselves.
