tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post8297492975995213681..comments2024-03-18T15:42:43.140+13:00Comments on Offsetting Behaviour: What makes Kiwis think like economists?Eric Cramptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15831696523324469713noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-55241566869836742412013-05-25T20:23:00.223+12:002013-05-25T20:23:00.223+12:00Yes. Those with less political knowledge also have...Yes. Those with less political knowledge also have less economic knowledge, and the correlates you mention matter.Eric Cramptonhttp://offsettingbehaviour.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-27528349503438921272013-05-25T14:00:59.850+12:002013-05-25T14:00:59.850+12:00Thank you for this series of blogs. I've found...Thank you for this series of blogs. I've found it easier to understand the statistical process when not couched in strict academic language.<br /><br />My understanding is that you've found an inverse relationship between political ignorance and economic thinking. Further, the overall scale of this relationship can be predicated by variables such as gender, income, education and ethnicity. Is this accurate?kristabellenznoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-70978194393666817772012-05-24T13:03:07.703+12:002012-05-24T13:03:07.703+12:00There is a substantial body of books explaining co...There is a substantial body of books explaining cosmology and natural history to educated lay people. Hence a fair fraction of the middle class has some idea of how science works and has tentatively concluded. Books elucidating the basics of economics for general readers are very rare, and I can think of only one offhand that I recommend: John Mcmillan's Natural History of Markets.philip meguirenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-79836307544388105332011-05-27T16:20:28.784+12:002011-05-27T16:20:28.784+12:00@jh: I corrected for income, education and whatnot...@jh: I corrected for income, education and whatnot. So economists are compared to others of similar education and income.<br /><br />I'd expect further that the folks selling property to foreigners are rather happy that they're allowed to purchase.Eric Cramptonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15831696523324469713noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-90939103483164827852011-05-25T08:39:53.674+12:002011-05-25T08:39:53.674+12:00Compared to economists, the public is very scared ...Compared to economists, the public is very scared of foreigners.<br /><br />because they get the butt end of the deal?<br /><br />From Community newspaper:<br /><i>Once Redcliffs was an unprepossessing fishing village, distinguished by a collection of modest fishermen's cottages. Most have now dissapeared, replaced by more luxurious residences, and property values have escalated.<br /><br /><br />“It's a standing joke that we're being taken over by the Americans and British, who have taken advantage of the stronger property markets in their own countires and favourable exchange rates”<br /><br /><br />“I know an English couple who have summer here and go back to England in the winter”<br /><br /><br />“What other parts of the city have such nice walks?..... </i>jhnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-60686534114588231332010-09-12T03:28:36.508+12:002010-09-12T03:28:36.508+12:00@Luis: 0.3 would be terrible for time series work,...@Luis: 0.3 would be terrible for time series work, but is actually respectable for cross-sectional.Eric Cramptonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15831696523324469713noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-8465156704206387272010-09-11T10:11:32.497+12:002010-09-11T10:11:32.497+12:00But your model explains only 30% (adjusted R2) of ...But your model explains only 30% (adjusted R2) of the observed variability of the economic index. It sounds like much to do about a phenomenon for which you can't explain 70% of the variability.Luishttp://apiolaza.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-55732446989744691722010-07-23T09:30:00.588+12:002010-07-23T09:30:00.588+12:00@Nandor: A pretty high proportion of us are going ...@Nandor: A pretty high proportion of us are going to be foreign men, and we're mostly high income. But on that question, you really need to check Bryan Caplan's work on differences between economists and the public. My stuff only compares Kiwi views with what most economists believe. Caplan has a survey where both economists and the public were asked a set of questions about their views on the economy. There, he's able to control for things like income, income growth, job security, education, and so on. Those factors sometimes reduce the gap in beliefs between economists and the public, but sometimes make it larger. <br /><br />Putting it another way, Caplan's able to statistically give the median voter the same income, education and so on as the typical economist. The views of these "enlightened voters" still differ substantially from those of economists.Eric Cramptonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15831696523324469713noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-64640835796708023582010-07-22T20:50:09.135+12:002010-07-22T20:50:09.135+12:00It begs the question how many economists are pakeh...It begs the question how many economists are pakeha males with a university degree in the top income bracket? Maybe the causality goes the other way - economists have constructed their discipline as a reflection of their privileged social position ;)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10362796849542826597noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-78439689869543479902009-03-12T10:38:00.000+13:002009-03-12T10:38:00.000+13:00Check the previous post for how I constructed the ...Check the previous post for how I constructed the "economic thinking" variable: basically, it scores respondents' answers on a set of policy questions where I argue that economists' answers would essentially be unidirectional. The more the respondent agrees with the set of propositions, the higher the "economic thinking" score. That's it. I'm trying to compare respondents' answers to what economists would say, so it should be closer to a gauge of being correct. My measure is nowhere near as clean as Bryan Caplan's from the Survey of Americans and Economists on the Economy, but I think it's defensible.Eric Cramptonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15831696523324469713noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-4073734102701147672009-03-12T09:06:00.000+13:002009-03-12T09:06:00.000+13:00But raw 'economic thinking' only measures how much...But raw 'economic thinking' only measures how much time you spend thinking about economics, not whether you're "right" or not.<BR/><BR/>Besides, I would venture that the higher the education and income the more this 'economic thinking' centers around the abstraction of money, while the 'economic thinking' at the lower end of the scale would bolster thinking about the context and environment in which money is made and earned. <BR/><BR/>"In any comparison of oranges to apples, the unit that is standard wins" - me :)B the IIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10647903110433573711noreply@blogger.com