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IZA
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What Does the Public Know about Economic Policy, and How Does It Know It?
by
Alan S. Blinder, Alan B. Krueger
(September 2004)
published in: Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, 2004:1
Abstract:
Public opinion influences politicians, and therefore influences public policy decisions. What
are the roles of self-interest, knowledge, and ideology in public opinion formation? And how
do people learn about economic issues? Using a new, specially-designed survey, we find
that most respondents express a strong desire to be well informed on economic policy
issues, and that television is their dominant source of information. On a variety of major
policy issues (e.g., taxes, social security, health insurance), ideology is the most important
determinant of public opinion, while measures of self-interest are the least important.
Knowledge about the economy ranks somewhere in between.
Text: See Discussion Paper No. 1324 
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