George Mason University economist Daniel Klein recently sponsored a Zogby poll of nearly 5,000 adults who were asked some basic economic questions. Those who self-identified as libertarian or very conservative were wrong about 17 percent of the time; the progressive/very liberal respondents were wrong 66 percent of the time.
But some people -- mostly the ones who got the answers wrong -- are complaining that the questions were too difficult or subjective. So here are some simple questions.
- Do you think that tax cuts always reduce government revenues, and new or higher taxes always increase them?
- Do you think President Franklin Roosevelt saved capitalism?
- Do you think government-imposed price controls ensure high-quality goods and services at low prices?
- Do you think that rising prices, especially after some catastrophic event, are always a result of greedy businesses price gouging consumers?
- Do you think that some economic sectors, such as health care and education, cannot be left to the free market?
- Do you think that budget deficits caused by increased federal spending on social programs are acceptable, while budget deficits caused by tax cuts aren’t?
- Do you think that increased government revenues make the country richer while increased corporate profits make the country poorer?
- Do you think that people cannot be trusted to make economic decisions on their own? [Counts double!]
- Do you think that the economy is a zero sum game, where the only way one person or company prospers is at the expense of another person or company?
- Do you think business owners are greedy while government employees are selfless public servants?
- Do you think that when people make a lot of money or have a lot of property the government should redistribute some of it in order to help others?
If you have answered any of the above questions with a “yes,” then you need a refresher course in Econ 101. If you have answered all of them “yes,” well, you have a good chance at a job covering economics for The New York Times.