Search This Blog

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Liberals flunk mainstream econ? Or conservatives don't look outside the theoretical box?

Zogby released stats showing that liberals / Democrats have a huge lack of economic understanding compared to their more conservative counterparts. Daniel Klein recently wrote a WSJ op-ed about this which my friend asked me to comment on. My comments are as follows:

I disagree with Mr Klein, and appears my point of disagreement is largely with his statement,
To be sure, none of the eight questions specifically challenge the political sensibilities of conservatives and libertarians. Still, not all of the eight questions are tied directly to left-wing concerns about inequality and redistribution. In particular, the questions about mandatory licensing, the standard of living, the definition of monopoly, and free trade do not specifically challenge leftist sensibilities.

Having just glossed over the full Zogby questionnaire, I would still offer that perhaps these questions do more at highlighting philosophical / political differences than economic intelligence. I suspect that many liberals felt their core identity would be threatened if they didn't answer in ways that were sympathetic to their core beliefs. It is a strongly known psychological fact that when our basic beliefs are threatened, so are our identities. For example, one of the questions was "Third world workers working for American companies overseas are being exploited, agree or disagree...?" Liberals of course would agree statistically compared to conservatives - to do otherwise would suggest an attack on their identities, whether they were technically correct or not from an economic point of view. The issue is NO issue should ever be looked at STRICTLY from a mainstream economic point of view - which is precisely why this study is hogwash. To say liberals don't understand economics is an assumption. One could just as easily say, based on the data, that liberals don't see answers as being black-and-white or defined by just one method of study.

Other questions like, "minimum wage laws raise unemployment, agree or disagree?" is just as problematic, if not just for the fact that many economists (some even in the mainstream) have done studies suggesting that unemployment rates are negligibly or not affected or in some cases enhanced in the long-run with minimum wage standards. Mainstream economic theory says "agree," but it's not a fully testable hypothesis since unemployment and wage levels are not set in an experiment that mimics real life. Obviously liberals, who believe that there should be minimum standards of earnings would "disagree." And as I mentioned in the above paragraph, they might disagree regardless of whether or not they are technically wrong or right because they might view the issue of wage rates as affecting things other than unemployment - like creating a better life for workers that might otherwise be below the poverty level. It's a matter of framing, and of looking beyond textbook economics.

My final issue with the study and the op-ed I can explain by talking about another question that was asked: "Overall, the standard of living is higher today than it was 30 years ago, agree or disagree?" Mainstream economics of course shows that it has - unequivocally...based on the following assumptions: (1) that standard of living is defined as income per capita growth, (2) that income is defined by GDP, (3) that GDP is solely and sufficiently representative of income, and therefore standard of living, and on, and on ....

I teach in my class that many heterodox (outside the mainstream) economists have come up with other tools, besides GDP per capita growth to measure standard of living. One has to take into account resource depletion, externalities, inequality, number of work vs. leisure hours....

So do liberals lack a solid economic education? Or do they just see things other than the bottom dollar as being important? The flip-side question is, are conservatives too ideological/theoretically driven? Do they think outside the box?

In the end, this study doesn't really highlight which group knows more about economics, it highlights how ideologically one-sided and shallow the current state of mainstream economics is.

6 comments:

Mark said...

Very good post.

oakleyses said...

tiffany and co, christian louboutin shoes, polo ralph lauren outlet, coach purses, nike free, longchamp handbags, coach factory outlet, louis vuitton outlet, tiffany and co, louis vuitton, gucci outlet, kate spade handbags, louis vuitton outlet, true religion jeans, tory burch outlet, kate spade outlet, prada handbags, air max, michael kors outlet, chanel handbags, burberry outlet, ray ban sunglasses, oakley sunglasses, burberry outlet, prada outlet, nike shoes, michael kors outlet, longchamp outlet, louis vuitton handbags, ray ban sunglasses, coach outlet, jordan shoes, michael kors outlet, louboutin outlet, michael kors outlet, polo ralph lauren outlet, air max, michael kors outlet, michael kors outlet, coach outlet store online, louis vuitton outlet stores, oakley sunglasses cheap, oakley sunglasses, true religion jeans, louboutin, longchamp handbags, louboutin

oakleyses said...

hollister, herve leger, canada goose, insanity workout, nfl jerseys, canada goose, soccer jerseys, north face outlet, p90x, ugg, uggs outlet, canada goose, marc jacobs, new balance shoes, ugg pas cher, canada goose outlet, ferragamo shoes, canada goose uk, celine handbags, jimmy choo outlet, abercrombie and fitch, reebok outlet, mac cosmetics, longchamp, wedding dresses, ugg boots, beats by dre, mcm handbags, asics running shoes, ghd, giuseppe zanotti, babyliss pro, soccer shoes, canada goose jackets, ugg boots, ugg australia, lululemon outlet, birkin bag, mont blanc, north face jackets, nike huarache, nike roshe run, bottega veneta, chi flat iron, rolex watches, instyler, vans shoes, valentino shoes

oakleyses said...

hollister, herve leger, canada goose, insanity workout, nfl jerseys, canada goose, soccer jerseys, north face outlet, p90x, ugg, uggs outlet, canada goose, marc jacobs, new balance shoes, ugg pas cher, canada goose outlet, ferragamo shoes, canada goose uk, celine handbags, jimmy choo outlet, abercrombie and fitch, reebok outlet, mac cosmetics, longchamp, wedding dresses, ugg boots, beats by dre, mcm handbags, asics running shoes, ghd, giuseppe zanotti, babyliss pro, soccer shoes, canada goose jackets, ugg boots, ugg australia, lululemon outlet, birkin bag, mont blanc, north face jackets, nike huarache, nike roshe run, bottega veneta, chi flat iron, rolex watches, instyler, vans shoes, valentino shoes

oakleyses said...

montre homme, iphone 6 cases, thomas sabo, swarovski crystal, hollister clothing store, swarovski, lancel, rolex watches, moncler, ray ban, wedding dresses, air max, hollister, ugg, ralph lauren, coach outlet store online, pandora jewelry, converse, baseball bats, oakley, louboutin, juicy couture outlet, moncler, gucci, air max, pandora charms, hollister, moncler outlet, timberland boots, louis vuitton, toms shoes, juicy couture outlet, canada goose, vans, parajumpers, moncler, ugg, pandora charms, canada goose, moncler, moncler, links of london, converse shoes, moncler, supra shoes, karen millen

Insulation Contractors Bloomington said...

Good readding