Beyond econ. 101.

• Author: Gillespie, Nick
• Position: Editor's Note

THIS MONTH'S COVER story, "The 4 Boneheaded Biases of Stupid Voters" (page 24), offers a provocative explanation for why so much of our country's economic policy is screwed up: Voters are basically idiots when it comes to understanding basic economic truths. We clamor for bad policies, ranging from trade barriers to minimum-wage hikes to price supports.

"The general public's views on economics]' writes Bryan Caplan, a George Mason University economist and author of the highly praised The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies, "not only are different from those of professional economists but are less accurate, and in predictable ways" The desultory outcome of such mistaken beliefs: We underestimate the benefits of markets, open borders, and conserving labor through technological advances. We also turn a blind eye to material progress. As a result, we overestimate "both the need for the government to solve ... purported problems and the likely efficacy of its solutions"

In building his case, Caplan cites Joseph Schumpeter (1883-1950), the great defender of markets and the "creative destruction" they entail both in business and in the larger society. Best remembered for Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy, Schumpeter fully understood anti-market bias, writing, "The public mind has by now so thoroughly grown out of humor with [capitalism] as to make condemnation of capitalism and all its works almost a requirement of the etiquette of discussion"

Schumpeter is the subject of another fantastic piece in this issue. In "Creative Destruction vs. the New Industrial State" (page 58), Contributing Editor Deirdre McCloskey looks at a...