Elitist Economists, Immigration, And The American Future By Steve Sailer

Economist Bryan Caplan [email him], an associate professor at George Mason U., a commuter school in suburban Virginia, has been getting a lot of good press for his recent book The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies which argues that voters should have less power because they make bad decisions compared to experts—such as (to pick a random example) economists.

Thus Caplan wrote in the online journal of the libertarian-turned-Beltway-Establishment-wannabe Cato Institute:

"Consider the case of immigration policy. Economists are vastly more optimistic about its economic effects than the general public. The Survey of Americans and Economists on the Economy asks respondents to say whether ‘too many immigrants’ is a major, minor, or non-reason why the economy is not doing better than it is. 47% of non-economists think it is a major reason; 80% of economists think it is not a reason at all."[The Myth of the Rational Voter, November 6th, 2006]

This is a particularly foolish argument—because, of course, immigration is the single political issue on which the American elite most gets its way over the American people.

Elitist Economists, Immigration, And The American Future ...

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