A set of books recommended by Gene Epstein, former chief economist for the New York Stock Exchange and current economics editor at Barron's. You can put them on my Christmas list!!
"The Myth of the Rational Voter" contains brilliant statistics demonstrating, literally, how profoundly stupid, uniformed, and misinformed the American electorate is. One such questionaire demonstrated, I believe, that most laymen believe that oil prices are established not by the market but by oil companies!?!
This would, if true, mean that oil enterprises could theoretically raise the oil exchange-ratio as high as they want. It also explains why people still believe in economically archaic ideas like price controls and windfall profits taxes, alleged "eco-tools" necessary to hedge against the sinister oil producers.
What a tragic comment. If liberty isn't worth defending, then what is? When people make uninformed decisions, it is only selfish to sell them on a better alternative. The exceptionalism of America is that is has an agora for ideas. Selling liberty to the uninformed by appealing to their self-interest is always effective. Statistics describe what is, not what might be.
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"The Myth of the Rational Voter" contains brilliant statistics demonstrating, literally, how profoundly stupid, uniformed, and misinformed the American electorate is. One such questionaire demonstrated, I believe, that most laymen believe that oil prices are established not by the market but by oil companies!?!
This would, if true, mean that oil enterprises could theoretically raise the oil exchange-ratio as high as they want. It also explains why people still believe in economically archaic ideas like price controls and windfall profits taxes, alleged "eco-tools" necessary to hedge against the sinister oil producers.
Epstein has good taste.
What a tragic comment.
If liberty isn't worth defending, then what is? When people make uninformed decisions, it is only selfish to sell them on a better alternative. The exceptionalism of America is that is has an agora for ideas. Selling liberty to the uninformed by appealing to their self-interest is always effective. Statistics describe what is, not what might be.
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