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From Publishers Weekly
Caplan, an associate professor of economics, believes that empirical proof of voter irrationality is the key to a realistic picture of democracy and, thus, how to approach and improve it. Focusing on how voters are systematically mistaken in their grasp of economics-according to Caplan, the No. 1 area of concern among voters in most election years-he effectively refutes the "miracle" of aggregation, showing that an uninformed populace will often vote against measures that benefit the majority. Drawing extensively from the Survey of Americans and Economists on the Economy, Caplan discusses how rational consumers often make irrational voters, why it's in politicians' interest to foment that irrationality, what economists make of the (non) existence of systematic bias and how social science's "misguided insistence that every model be a 'story without fools,' " has led them to miss the crucial questions in politics, "where folly is central." Readers unfamiliar with economic theory and its attendant jargon may find themselves occasionally (but only momentarily) lost; otherwise the text is highly readable and Caplan's arguments are impressively original, shedding new light on an age-old political economy conundrum.
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Christopher Hayes, In These Times
"Caplan's willingness to embrace the darkness, however, is what makes this book so important."

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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
antimarket bias, systematically biased beliefs, voter irrationality, preferences over beliefs, antiforeign bias, democratic fundamentalism, belief gap, rational irrationality, irrational voters, enlightened preferences, pessimistic bias, voter ignorance, rational ignorance, betting markets, winning platform, economic literacy, minor reason, unpopular programs, market fundamentalism, voters care, market fundamentalist, typical voter, economic beliefs, ignorant voters, democratic failure Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Enlightened Public, Variable Coding, Mean Mean Enlightened, Miracle of Aggregation, United States, Classical Public Choice, Adam Smith, Paul Krugman, Social Security, Alan Blinder, Third World, Robert Kuttner, William Greider, Donald Wittman, Variable Coefficient, Variable Question, George Orwell, Mean Mean Enlightens, Paul Samuelson, Quantity of Irrationality Figure, Supreme Court New!
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