My Country, ‘tis of thee, knows little about liberty

This week’s Economist contains some sad figures about my home country, the United States. Only one third of Americans believe free-trade agreements are good for the economy, the lowest figure in the developed world. On the other hand, a famous study in 1992 by Alston, Kearl and Vaughan (google: “Is There a Consensus Among Economists in the 1990's?”) found that 93% of economists support free trade. Why is there such a discrepancy, not just in America, but worldwide?

Economics, in general, is not exactly intuitive. Most people don’t naturally come to the same conclusions that Ricardo and Smith came to without instruction and explanation. It is much easier to comprehend, "We should have tariffs because if we don’t, people will buy sugar from Jamaica instead of America. Plus — it could be contaminated since it comes from a developing nation."

The problem is that most people never really learn economics. Some high schools offer one course as an elective class, but most students go through high school knowing nothing of supply and demand and absolutely nothing of comparative advantage. In university, students generally only take economics if it is a required course — meaning many students graduate college without ever studying economics — even those who aspire to be high school teachers. If high schools did start to offer economics, who would be qualified to teach it?

The general lack of understanding carries grave implications. If voters oppose free-trade agreements, then politicians will certainly pander to fill their need. The doors open wide for demagoguery —meaning free-trade advocates are portrayed as insensitive and greedy.

It could be people never learn because they don’t have the opportunity. Perhaps though, it’s just because the OK! Magazine special of Wayne Rooney’s wedding is just so much more interesting than The Economist…

Actually...
written by Stray Taoist, July 10, 2008

...these days I dare say OK! Magazine *is* more interesting than The Economist. Or, at least, differently irritating :)

surprise surprise
written by s masty, July 10, 2008

when i grew up in the Midwest, every spring, when we set our clocks forward for Daylight Savings Time, the newspaper was deluged with letters from people complaining that the extra hour of daylight would make their lawns grow faster. is it any wonder they don't understand free trade?

Education and...
written by Student, July 11, 2008

Nice anecdote S. Masty. I daresay that economics is even simpler than Daylight Savings Time (originally invented by a golfer interested in longer playing time...). To anyone who understands economics and its daily application in life, the widespread ignorance of basic economic principles by Americans is puzzling. Jason Jones is right. Like other sciences, economics comes with a unique language, paradigm, and reasoning that can be difficult to understand without a formal introduction. And like other sciences, once this new set of principles is learned daily application is natural. American business leaders and educators need to push for an academic agenda that provides a stronger foundation in economics (and all other sciences, for that matter). What about the government? Government politicians are perhaps the biggest disseminators of economic myths. Both sides of the aisle are guilty of protectionist pandering at the cost of American consumers and workers. Currently the biggest myth propagated by politicians is that an American trading with an American makes both better off; however, an American trading with a Chinese (take your pick of nationalities) makes the American worse off. Politicians cast a suspicious and threatening shadow on the very cornerstone of the free market: the invisible hand. Considering that most American politicians are well educated college graduates versed in economics, this behavior is even more damning. Until those who know better act better, widespread economic illiteracy and even one party’s talk of “renegotiating NAFTA,” will continue.

Written by Jason Jones
Thursday, 10 July 2008
This week’s Economist contains some sad figures about my home country, the United States. Only one third of Americans believe free-trade agreements are good for the economy, the lowest figure in the developed world. On the other hand, a famous study in 1992 by Alston, Kearl and Vaughan (google: “Is There a Consensus Among Economists in the 1990's?”) found that 93% of economists support free trade. Why is there such a discrepancy, not just in America, but worldwide? Economics, in general, is not exactly intuitive. Most people don’t naturally come to the same conclusions that Ricardo and Smith came to without instruction and explanation. It is much easier to comprehend, "We should have tariffs because if we don’t, people will buy sugar from Jamaica instead of America. Plus — it could be contaminated since it comes from a developing nation." The problem is that most people never really learn economics. Some high schools offer one course as an elective class, but most students go through high school knowing nothing of supply and demand and absolutely nothing of comparative advantage. In university, students generally only take economics if it is a required course — meaning many students graduate college without ever studying economics — even those who aspire to be high school teachers. If high schools did start to offer economics, who would be qualified to teach it? The general lack of understanding carries grave implications. If voters oppose free-trade agreements, then politicians will certainly pander to fill their need. The doors open wide for demagoguery —meaning free-trade advocates are portrayed as insensitive and greedy. It could be people never learn because they don’t have the opportunity. Perhaps though, it’s just because the OK! Magazine special of Wayne Rooney’s wedding is just so much more interesting than The Economist… Bookmark Comments (3) Subscribe to this comment's feed Actually... written by Stray Taoist, July 10, 2008 ...these days I dare say OK! Magazine is more interesting than The Economist. Or, at least, differently irritating :) surprise surprise written by s masty, July 10, 2008 when i grew up in the Midwest, every spring, when we set our clocks forward for Daylight Savings Time, the newspaper was deluged with letters from people complaining that the extra hour of daylight would make their lawns grow faster. is it any wonder they don't understand free trade? Education and... written by Student, July 11, 2008 Nice anecdote S. Masty. I daresay that economics is even simpler than Daylight Savings Time (originally invented by a golfer interested in longer playing time...). To anyone who understands economics and its daily application in life, the widespread ignorance of basic economic principles by Americans is puzzling. Jason Jones is right. Like other sciences, economics comes with a unique language, paradigm, and reasoning that can be difficult to understand without a formal introduction. And like other sciences, once this new set of principles is learned daily application is natural. American business leaders and educators need to push for an academic agenda that provides a stronger foundation in economics (and all other sciences, for that matter). What about the government? Government politicians are perhaps the biggest disseminators of economic myths. Both sides of the aisle are guilty of protectionist pandering at the cost of American consumers and workers. Currently the biggest myth propagated by politicians is that an American trading with an American makes both better off; however, an American trading with a Chinese (take your pick of nationalities) makes the American worse off. Politicians cast a suspicious and threatening shadow on the very cornerstone of the free market: the invisible hand. Considering that most American politicians are well educated college graduates versed in economics, this behavior is even more damning. Until those who know better act better, widespread economic illiteracy and even one party’s talk of “renegotiating NAFTA,” will continue. Write comment This content has been locked. You can no longer post any comment. Powered by Azrul's Jom Comment for Joomla!