economic illiteracy
We all have our theories about What's Wrong With The World. Mine is economic illiteracy. What I find even more frustrating than economic illiteracy is the illiterates' complacency about their illiteracy. They know that they don't know and don't know why they should know. Some even deny that they should know. To me this is like having an opinion on evolution without knowing basic biology, or having an opinion on NASA's engineering options without knowing the first thing about physics. Like giving a review of a book you haven't read.
It is irresponsible, by definition, to hold an irresponsible opinion. It is responsible, by corollary, to refrain from holding irresponsible opinions. But everyone feels entitled to espouse economic opinions, and most don't even recognize that that's what they're doing.
People don't like X, so they advocate the measures that are established to make X worse, because they sound like they really ought to have the opposite effect. Try to point out that they're making X worse, and they'll accuse you of being secretly pro-X. (The ad hominem fallacy being the favorite fallback of the ignorant.)
The FEE daily brief gives the usual illuminating examples:
It is irresponsible, by definition, to hold an irresponsible opinion. It is responsible, by corollary, to refrain from holding irresponsible opinions. But everyone feels entitled to espouse economic opinions, and most don't even recognize that that's what they're doing.
People don't like X, so they advocate the measures that are established to make X worse, because they sound like they really ought to have the opposite effect. Try to point out that they're making X worse, and they'll accuse you of being secretly pro-X. (The ad hominem fallacy being the favorite fallback of the ignorant.)
The FEE daily brief gives the usual illuminating examples:
High stakes over health care initiative
10/28/04
"California restaurants, retailers and labor unions are throwing millions of dollars into the campaign for and against Proposition 72, which would require large companies to provide health insurance." (San Francisco Chronicle, Thursday)
And we wonder why health care is a mess.
FEE Timely Classic
"Rising Health-Care Costs: Who's the Villain?" by Charles Van Eaton
Could we see'29 all over again?
10/28/04
"With more people in the stock market than ever before, nobody seemed to pay much attention to the bad news that cropped up throughout the year in 1929.
"Individual investors were buying stocks on margin, speculators drove up prices and the government had a hands-off policy on the economy." (San Mateo County Times, Thursday)
Government had a "hands-off" policy?!?!
FEE Timely Classic
"Great Myths of the Great Depression" by Lawrence W. Reed
1 Comments:
Burger King, I have said similar things before, I agree with you--economic illiteracy is one of our biggest problems. Most people are indeed decent and if they realized the free market is the only way to create prosperity and harmony, they would be in favor of it. If I ever inherit a lot of money and want to give it to charity, most would go to economic education.
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