Recommended: Are You Smarter Than a Fifth-Grader?

In relation to my last post, The Wall Street Journal had an interesting article by David Klein on June 8, entitled Are You Smarter Than a Fifth-Grader?. It reports on a study of 4835 US adults who were asked a series of basic Economics 101 questions. What is interesting is that the more liberal people (as self reported) did substantially worse than the more conservative people.

Of course liberals will naturally dispute some of the answers if they don't agree with liberal ideology (Example: rent control leads to housing shortages - some liberals don't want to believe that because they are in favor of rent control, but the data overwhelmingly supports the conclusion).

Not that conservatives are immune from denying data if they conflict with ideology (Example: almost all studies show abstinence training doesn't work, but some conservatives just won't believe it). But in economic matters, it seems liberals are more misguided by their ideological beliefs than conservatives, with moderates lying in between them.

An interesting result, and supported by some recent real-world events, like the current fiscal crisis brought on by well-meaning but economically deluded Congressional liberals pushing in the 1990s for more home ownership among people who simply couldn't afford homes (the subprime mortgage caper).