The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies
Bryan Caplan
Speaker: Bryan Caplan
Date: November 16, 2007
Description:
Bryan D. Caplan, associate professor of economics at George Mason University, argues that "voters are worse than ignorant; they are, in a word, irrational-and vote accordingly." People are often mistaken in their understanding of economics, and therefore vote against policies that would be in the majority's best interests, writes Caplan, who earned a B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley and a Ph.D. at Princeton. New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof called his study "the best political book this year," and says it does "a remarkably thorough job of insulting the American voter." A book signing will follow the Forum.
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