Thread: WSJ Article: Who knows basic economics better, Liberals or Conservatives?

I know everybody here is an exception to every misconception about everything - and we're all enlightened and brilliant...I mean, it's the internet. We're all attractive too...and athletic, I'm sure.

This article, however, paints a different picture as to who in this country knows what about basic economic truths and realities.

What does this say?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...book#printMode

It makes sense to me - that a "Progressive/Very Liberal", on average, doesn't understand basic economics - their policy choices and opinions seem to indicate that - but I did not expect this disparity in actual knowledge reflected from these simple questions.

The poll asks questions about mandatory licensing of professional services, 3rd world labor regulation, minimum wage laws, etc. - in no way am I suggesting that these things go away, I just find it interesting that 65%+ of Liberals do not understand the impact of these things on our economy (cost of goods, unemployment, etc).

Seems basic to me.

I guarantee my hippie parents wouldn't get these questions correct...how about you?

Smear it up!

A few things: One, Zogby is not a reputable pollster. He will take money to get any results you want. Two, this is an OPINION piece. Three, they deem the answer "wrong" if you disagree with conservative economic ideology. So do you really think it's shocking that conservatives who agree with conservative economic ideas are going to score better than liberals? Oh, and a libertarian has libertarians getting the fewest answers "wrong." This is a trash poll and write-up and not one to be taken seriously.

Actually, the very conservative group got the least number of questions wrong.
It actually follows what I've experienced from my friends and their knowledge of economics... even in my MBA program =P

It's not conservative economic ideology, it's economics in general. Was the poll justified in stating that only somewhat disagree and strongly disagree was considered wrong? Perhaps just strongly disagree, but if you look at economic principles, they are both wrong. Perhaps somewhat agree should be wrong too? =P

Originally Posted by Bane

Actually, the very conservative group got the least number of questions wrong.
It actually follows what I've experienced from my friends and their knowledge of economics... even in my MBA program =P

It's not conservative economic ideology, it's economics in general. Was the poll justified in stating that only somewhat disagree and strongly disagree was considered wrong? Perhaps just strongly disagree, but if you look at economic principles, they are both wrong. Perhaps somewhat agree should be wrong too? =P

My problem is that the questions seem to be extremely simple and vague, which means the poll was set up to get these results. Zogby has been caught doing these types of polls before, so it reasonable, based on what I see here, to believe the author got him to do the same thing here. I would never trust a Zogby poll, he is the worst pollster in the business.

And bam, FiveThirtyEight has a piece up on it. Pretty much says exactly what I just typed:
"But between the poorly-considered questions and the poor choice of survey partner, this amounts to junk science."
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2010/...rge-mason.html

5) Third World workers working for American companies overseas are being exploited (unenlightened answer: agree)

That's a terrible question. It doesn't say "All Third World workers...," so it could very easily be read either way. If the question is read as "Some Third World workers..." then of course the answer is "agree." Ambiguous questions like that in polls are a pretty good indicator that the pollster is trying to induce bias.

Consultant, you should try to be more skeptical about what you read.

Wow that question 5 is pretty vague. It sounds more like an opinion question then anything factual. What is exploited? Sure there is a definition for the exact meaning of it, but everyone going to think exploited means something different. From what I understand, many of the Third World workers are not being exploited by the standards of their country, but by Western standards they pretty much are.

Originally Posted by Red_Lizard2

Wow that question 5 is pretty vague. It sounds more like an opinion question then anything factual. What is exploited? Sure there is a definition for the exact meaning of it, but everyone going to think exploited means something different. From what I understand, many of the Third World workers are not being exploited by the standards of their country, but by Western standards they pretty much are.

Yeah, that one is pushing it. But overall, i found them to be pretty nuetral. The premis of the poll is pretty simple and doesnt lean one way or the other. Its simple: "Subject A, do you agree or dissagree with the following statemen. Mmhmm, ok. And what are your political leanings? Mmmhmm, ok, thanks."

But, brilliant people can have a fucked up view of things but still be brilliant.... i know it sounds strange, but have you read some of the other threads around here?!

So in trying to say that Liberals are stupid based on this poll is rediculous at best. Its junk with some entertainment value built into the ensuing debate.

an interesting paragraph from the actual report:

Here again we should acknowledge that none of the eight questions
challenge typical conservative or libertarian policy positions, and that had some
such questions been included, the measured economic-enlightenment means by
ideological groups may well have been somewhat different.

Where to download the full report

Now, to me, that says the goal of the poll was to challenge liberal ideas that are "wrong" and not conservative or libertarian ideas that are "Wrong." Which, by the way, wouldn't conservatives to get more right on this as they are likely to politically sway to the "enlightened" side while a liberal is going to sway to the "unenlightened" side?

I'd like to see the results of a critical reading assessment on everyone who thinks a Zogby poll is good journalism.