Caplan on the Myth of the Rational Voter

Russ Roberts interviews Bryan Caplan about his new book, The Myth of the Rational Voter:

Bryan Caplan, of George Mason University and blogger at EconLog, talks about his book, The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies. Caplan argues that democracies work well in giving voters what they want but unfortunately, what voters want isn't particularly wise, especially when it comes to economic policy. He outlines a series of systematic biases we often have on economic topics and explains why we have little or no incentive to improve our understanding of the world and vote wisely. So, it's not special interests that are messing things up but the very incentives that lie at the heart of a vote-based system. This is a disturbing and provocative lens for viewing political outcomes.

Follow the link to listen to the podcast and for a plethora of related links.

I just picked up a copy of Dr. Caplan's book at Barnes and Noble last Thursday.  I'm only about 20% of the way through so far, but it looks to be a great read.  Tyler Cowen calls it one of the "two or three best books on public choice in the last twenty years". 

Order your copy today!

See my previous post mentioning Dr. Caplan's book here.