Caplan-Miller in the WSJ

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The Wall St. Journal carefully summarizes our work on IQ and economic beliefs:

The authors found that intelligence supplanted education as the primary predictor of whether one took an economist's typical point of view. Education moved into second place, followed by party identification (Republican) and recent growth in income. The correlation between the views of intelligent people and professional economists offers "another reason to accept the 'economists are right, the public is wrong' interpretation" of differences in opinion, these economists argue.

P.S. My first-hand experience with Christopher Shea, the author of the WSJ's "Week in Ideas" column, makes me regard him as especially trustworthy. How many other journalists in his position would double-check the accuracy of their write-up with the authors of the research?

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CATEGORIES: Behavioral Economics and Rationality
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COMMENTS (3 to date)

Latest Comment

Tom writes:

'Education' has become too big of a tent. Hoe may kids come out of college 'educated' in art or womyn studies?

Photography is interesting, but you even if you have a degree in it, you should not be considered college educated.

I can see why education run second to IQ in this matter ( I am surprised that it runs ahead of party affiliation).

Posted November 27, 2010 1:32 PM

Douglass Holmes writes:

I am usually suspicious of anything I read in the newspaper, even the WSJ, so I am happy to hear that Christopher Shea is willing to double check things. Very good of Bryan to mention it.

Posted November 28, 2010 8:29 PM

Brian Clendinen writes:

One of my Favorite Mark Twains quotes is "I don't let me schooling get in the way of my education."

So the fact that IQ more important than education does not suprise me. I remember my undergrad Financial Markets Professor (PHD in Finance) stating the the Dow Jones Average was an important market index. She had a lot of schooling in the field but was not very educated.

Posted December 1, 2010 4:08 PM

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