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Democracy Gives Voters What They Want
- Democracy reliably delivers what voters want, but voters often want policies economists judge harmful.
- Bryan Caplan shows tariffs and other protectionist policies are popular broadly, so politicians enact them to win votes rather than sneak them past voters.
Picnic Frost After Questioning Minimum Wage
- Caplan recounts an economist at a picnic who suggested minimum wage might reduce employment and felt social frost from others.
- The vignette illustrates the social cost of challenging popular economic beliefs in casual settings.
Anti Market Bias Comes From Distrust Of Intentions
- The public misjudges markets because they distrust sellers' intentions and equate self-interest with harm.
- Caplan argues economists see competition as empathy: sellers serving customers to keep business, producing social benefits despite self-interest.