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What Does the Public Know about Economic Policy, and How Does It Know It?

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Author Info
Alan S. Blinder
Alan B. Krueger

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Abstract

Public opinion influences politicians, and therefore influences public policy decisions. What are the roles of self-interest, knowledge, and ideology in public opinion formation? And how do people learn about economic issues? Using a new, specially-designed survey, we find that most respondents express a strong desire to be well informed on economic policy issues, and that television is their dominant source of information. On a variety of major policy issues (e.g., taxes, social security, health insurance), ideology is the most important determinant of public opinion, while measures of self-interest are the least important. Knowledge about the economy ranks somewhere in between.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 10787.

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Date of creation: Sep 2004
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:10787

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
D70 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - General
E60 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - General

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  1. Hansen, Karsten T. & Heckman, James J. & Mullen, Kathleen J., 2003. "The Effect of Schooling and Ability on Achievement Test Scores," IZA Discussion Papers 826, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
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  2. Persson, Torsten & Tabellini, Guido, 1997. "Political Economics and Macroeconomic Policy," CEPR Discussion Papers 1759, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  3. Victor R. Fuchs & Alan B. Krueger & James M. Poterba, 1998. "Economists' Views about Parameters, Values, and Policies: Survey Results in Labor and Public Economics," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 36(3), pages 1387-1425, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. David Romer, 2003. "Misconceptions and Political Outcomes," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 113(484), pages 1-20, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  5. Blinder, Alan S & Morgan, John, 2005. "Are Two Heads Better than One? Monetary Policy by Committee," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 37(5), pages 789-811, October.
  6. Blendon, Robert J, et al, 1997. "Bridging the Gap between the Public's and Economists' Views of the Economy," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 11(3), pages 105-18, Summer. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. Bryan Caplan, 2002. "Sociotropes, Systematic Bias, and Political Failure: Reflections on the Survey of Americans and Economists on the Economy," Social Science Quarterly, The Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 83(2), pages 416-435. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Dan Fuller & Doris Geide-Stevenson, 2003. "Consensus Among Economists: Revisited," Journal of Economic Education, Helen Dwight Reid Foundation, vol. 34(4), pages 369-387. [Downloadable!]
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  1. Mark Doms & Norman Morin, 2004. "Consumer sentiment, the economy, and the news media," Working Papers in Applied Economic Theory 2004-09, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. [Downloadable!]
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  2. Lynch, Lisa M., 2005. "Job Loss: Bridging the Research and Policy Discussion," IZA Discussion Papers 1518, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
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  3. Michael E. S. Hoffman, 2005. "Politico-Economic Determinants of American Trade Policy Attitudes," International Trade 0510017, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
  4. Boeri, Tito & Tabellini, Guido, 2005. "Does Information Increase Political Support for Pension Reform?," CEPR Discussion Papers 5319, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  5. Maurizio Bovi, 2006. "Consumers Sentiment and Cognitive Macroeconometrics Paradoxes and Explanations," ISAE Working Papers 66, ISAE - Institute for Studies and Economic Analyses - (Rome, ITALY). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  6. Mohl, Philipp & Heinemann, Friedrich & Osterloh, Steffen, 2008. "Who's afraid of an EU tax and why? : revenue system preferences in the European Parliament," ZEW Discussion Papers 08-027, ZEW - Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung / Center for European Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
  7. Luciano Fanti & Luca Gori, 2008. "Longevity and PAYG pension systems sustainability," Economics Bulletin, Economics Bulletin, vol. 10(2), pages 1-8. [Downloadable!]
  8. Roberto Luis Olinto Ramos & Lisbeth Rivas & Gonzalo C. Pastor, 2008. "Latin America: Highlights from the Implementation of the System of National Accounts 1993 (1993 SNA)," IMF Working Papers 08/239, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
  9. Anderberg, Dan & Chevalier, Arnaud & Wadsworth, Jonathan, 2008. "Anatomy of a Health Scare: Education, Income and the MMR Controversy in the UK," IZA Discussion Papers 3590, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
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  10. Thomas Maag & Michael J. Lamla, 2009. "The Role of Media for Inflation Forecast Disagreement of Households and Professionals," KOF Working papers 09-223, KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich. [Downloadable!]
  11. Nathaniel Wilcox, 2004. "Believing in Economic Theory: Sex, Lies, Evidence, Trust and Ideology," Working Papers 2004-06 Classification-, Department of Economics, University of Houston. [Downloadable!]
  12. Lena Vogel & Jan-Oliver Menz & Ulrich Fritsche, 2009. "Prospect Theory and Inflation Perceptions - An Empirical Assessment," Macroeconomics and Finance Series 200903, Hamburg University, Department Wirtschaft und Politik. [Downloadable!]
  13. Andrew Leigh, 2004. "Does the World Economy Swing National Elections?," CEPR Discussion Papers 485, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University. [Downloadable!]
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