T
thegooch
Guest
The research here was done by Zogby and Daniel Klein. The results were reported in the May issue of Econ Journal Watch. As Klein writes, it's just this simple: The left flunks Economics 101. Period.
Here's the drill:
The researchers questioned about 5000 American adults. They were given eight separate economic propositions. They were then asked to respond to these propositions with one of five choices:Strongly agreeSomewhat agreeSomewhat disagreeStrongly disagreeNot sureHere's the interesting thing about this study. The researchers only looked at the incorrect answers. If, for instance, the economic proposition was correct, "Somewhat" and "strongly" disagree would be counted as wrong answers. "Not sure" was never counted as an incorrect answer. Makes sense, because it's not much of an answer at all.
OK ... here are the questions.
Mandatory licensing of professional services increases the prices of those services.
Overall, the standard of living is higher today than it was 30 years ago
Rent control leads to housing shortages.
A company with the largest market share is a monopoly.
Third World workers working for American companies overseas are being exploited.
Free trade leads to unemployment.
Minimum wage laws raise unemployment.
Restrictions on housing development make housing less affordable
The researchers divided the respondents into six political groupings. Here are the six groups along with the number of incorrect answers - or "unenlightened" answers, if you will - out of the eight propositions:Very conservative 1.30
Libertarian 1.38
Conservative 1.67
Moderate 3.67
Liberal 4.69
Progressive/Very liberal 5.26
The more liberal you are the less you understand about basic economics.
Now think about this: Liberals and progressives ... these are the people who are in the process of reordering out economy right this very moment. These are the people who are writing grand new bills to regulate our economic interaction with one another. These are the people who believe that the American economy should be controlled by the federal government rather than the free decisions of millions of people participating in the economy every day. These are the people who have undertaken the task of shepherding us through an economic recovery and putting people back to work ... and these are the people who don't know squat about basic economics.
Here's the drill:
The researchers questioned about 5000 American adults. They were given eight separate economic propositions. They were then asked to respond to these propositions with one of five choices:Strongly agreeSomewhat agreeSomewhat disagreeStrongly disagreeNot sureHere's the interesting thing about this study. The researchers only looked at the incorrect answers. If, for instance, the economic proposition was correct, "Somewhat" and "strongly" disagree would be counted as wrong answers. "Not sure" was never counted as an incorrect answer. Makes sense, because it's not much of an answer at all.
OK ... here are the questions.
Mandatory licensing of professional services increases the prices of those services.
Overall, the standard of living is higher today than it was 30 years ago
Rent control leads to housing shortages.
A company with the largest market share is a monopoly.
Third World workers working for American companies overseas are being exploited.
Free trade leads to unemployment.
Minimum wage laws raise unemployment.
Restrictions on housing development make housing less affordable
The researchers divided the respondents into six political groupings. Here are the six groups along with the number of incorrect answers - or "unenlightened" answers, if you will - out of the eight propositions:Very conservative 1.30
Libertarian 1.38
Conservative 1.67
Moderate 3.67
Liberal 4.69
Progressive/Very liberal 5.26
The more liberal you are the less you understand about basic economics.
Now think about this: Liberals and progressives ... these are the people who are in the process of reordering out economy right this very moment. These are the people who are writing grand new bills to regulate our economic interaction with one another. These are the people who believe that the American economy should be controlled by the federal government rather than the free decisions of millions of people participating in the economy every day. These are the people who have undertaken the task of shepherding us through an economic recovery and putting people back to work ... and these are the people who don't know squat about basic economics.