Instinctive Economics
Farm subsidies are bad for both taxpayers and unsubsidized farmers, but in 2002 the American farm lobby got a 70% increase in government support.
Since 1976, the Worldviews survey has always found that Americans who “sympathize more with those who want to eliminate tariffs” are seriously outnumbered by “those who think such tariffs are necessary.” A 2004 PIPA-Knowledge Networks Poll found that 58% agree that “government needs to subsidize farming to make sure there will always be a good supply of food.” In 2006, the Pew Research Center found that over 80% of Americans want to raise the minimum wage.
Yet economists have spent centuries explaining how markets channel greedy intentions into socially desirable results; how trade is mutually beneficial both within and between countries; how using price controls to redistribute income inflicts a lot of collateral damage. These are the lessons of every economics textbook. Economists across the political spectrum see eye to eye on these basic lessons.
As every introductory teacher of economics knows, students are not blank slates. On the first day of class, they arrive with strong — and usually misguided — beliefs.
The mystery of politics is why policies aren’t a lot worse.