“All politics is local” is a mantra we hear a lot. As I was reading The Myth of the Rational Voter (Caplan), it occurred to me that there is a similar paraphrase that might be equally important:
Caplan puts forth the arguments that our regular, Stephen Kallestad, makes … that free markets (not the same as capitalism, by the way) are the economic engine that produces the greatest wealth. I completely agree, and have used the old
to explain to unbelievers why they should believe. But see statement (1). To the voter, it does not matter if the planet is wealthier if they (locally) are poorer. No wonder we get the sorts of economist-layperson discrepancies that Caplan identifies in his book, including anti-free trade attitudes amongst the laypeople. (By the way, the statistical methods used in the referenced study are quite interesting and quite sound, if done correctly).
Details:
WHAT: Politics and a Pint
WHERE: Contented Cow
WHEN: 6-7:30PM Sunday, 11 Sept 2011
