[EM] Rational Voters discussion BBC Radio 4

[Stephen Turner]

There is an audio discussion, originally on BBC Radio
4 about a new book which deals with the perceived
problem of ignorance of economics among voters, and
whether this matters.  There is a link at the end.

It is not really about methods of voting.

One of the speakers advocates the taking of economic
decisions out of the realm of politics, rather as is
typically done with central banks.
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Here is the blurb from the webpage
In 1957 Anthony Downs wrote An Economic Theory of
Democracy in which he tried to imagine an electoral
world in which everyone behaved rationally.  He
concluded that from a strictly rational point of view
there is no point in voting and that there is no point
in expanding time and effort learning about politics,
that in effect it was rational to be ignorant.

In his new book The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why
Democracies Choose Bad Policies, Professor Brian
Caplan develops the idea that voters are worse than
ignorant, they are in fact irrational and vote
accordingly.

On the day before local and regional elections, Laurie
Taylor is joined by Professor Bryan Caplan, and Paul
Whiteley, Professor of Government at the University if
Essex and Co-Director of the British Election Study to
discuss whether electorates in democracies are
ignorant and irrational, and if so whether it matters.
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There is a link to the audio file at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/thinkingallowed/thinkingallowed_20070502.shtml

You can listen with RealPlayer or 
Windows Media Player (streamed only, you cannot by
default download the file).  Only the first 15 minutes
or so are relevant.
-- 
Stephen



       
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