THE ENEMY WITHIN Published in the Orange County Register Jan. 23, 2013

The greatest threat to our nation’s economic prosperity and to the freedoms that we enjoy individually and collectively is not China or Russia or Iran, rather it is ... us. Numerous polls indicate that the majority of American’s profess to be in favor of smaller government and that they strongly support the Capitalist system. Yet U.S. voters consistently vote for policies that grow government and inhibit free enterprise. How is this so?

The answer is apparent. The typical American voter is ill-informed, is subject to media and other bias, and substantially lacks effective comprehension of basic economic principles that are crucial to our nation’s well-being. Under these conditions, rather than frank debate and constructive action among politicians, it is rhetoric and marketing slogans that win elections. Factors such as a candidate’s charisma, race, and gender carry more weight than do competency and sound ideology.

The Orange County Register recently cited a study co-authored by Yale University professor Gregory Huber which identified “severe limitations in humans’ ability to accurately and impartially judge the performance of politicians.” Voters are influenced by rhetoric and marketing and by events such as hurricanes, shark attacks, and even the outcomes of sporting events.

In his recent book The Myth of the Rational Voter, economist Bryan Caplan expertly debunked the widely held notion among political scientists known as the “Miracle of Aggregation” which presupposes that the collective errors of voters conveniently cancel one another out thus neutralizing all biases among the uninformed electorate. On the contrary, Mr. Caplan explains that the voting public is prone to systematic biases in a particular direction, most often in support of policies that grow government. More importantly, Mr. Caplan has identified the extent of the electorate’s knowledge deficit and exposed its damaging effects on government policy decisions.

One of the primary causes of the voter knowledge gap is what economists term “rational ignorance.” Due to the extremely low probability that one vote will turn any election it is irrational to expend the considerable time and effort necessary to become fully informed. Hence, voters act rationally and remain uninformed. The typical voter is educated passively by whatever information they become exposed to via the media, talking with friends, etc. The result is that many voters cast a ballot largely based on emotion shaped by rhetoric and marketing slogans. The principle reasons for voting often relate to a sense of patriotic duty or to achieving personal emotional satisfaction.

The obvious solution to the electorate’s knowledge gap is education. One of the primary areas of misunderstanding is that of basic economic concepts. As Mr. Caplan states, “Economic policy is the primary activity of the modern state, making voter beliefs about economics among the most—if not the most—politically relevant beliefs.” U.S. citizens have consistently voiced their opinion that jobs and the economy are among the most pressing national issues. Is there any question about the link between jobs and sound economic policy?

If we hope to achieve a more informed electorate, remedial economics ought to be a required course for high school graduation. As an alternative, local governments might offer and promote basic economics courses for adults.