Fox Business
Expand
Browse All Video
Watch Live

You're watching...

Everyone Must Vote?

Details

  • Description

    George Mason University Economist Bryan Caplan argues just because you can vote, doesn’t mean you should.

  • Duration 5:36
  • Date

Clips

Also in this playlist...

Latest Video

Auto-advance: ON

Auto-advance
View All

Transcript

This transcript is automatically generated

People -- that sounds like a lot.

-- -- realize -- more than 200 million eligible voters in other words most people didn't vote.

And that's terrible I'm told but people think it's terrible I think it's -- -- hadn't a lot of you are stupid.

Public view until.

Where maybe not you hear the audience that bombs bothered to comment on my shelves a year obviously.

Americans don't follow the news -- truck he's blown up photo Ron Paul.

Mitt Romney.

-- -- -- Children to people outside the studio I figured some would know Ron Paul was could surely everyone would know -- meant to new -- wrong.

You know this if I noticed a sickening us name.

Tom Brokaw looks like Will Ferrell you know this new ground who's this again.

And around about this you know this is this population that -- -- -- injuries.

He's a character on a sleazy reality show.

Yet more people know him the new important politicians.

And -- in.

This is one reason I say those count the vote drives are dumb and hoping that rock concerts I run my want you know test -- Many of the young people had no clue about national -- It's behind the most of them don't vote that's appropriate self selection.

Those of you who don't pay attention will be less likely to vote -- -- take heat for saying that saying some people should vote is just sack religious to people.

But one economist who agrees with me is Brian Kaplan he's author of a book called the myth.

Of -- rational voter.

Why democracies choose bad policy so democracies -- bad policies because voters are not rational.

I exactly others lot of bad policies the pass by popular demand.

But people want to do the right thing.

That's absolutely right actually people do want to do the right thing -- that doesn't mean that they are doing -- nor do the right thing you -- know something.

And if you try to do the right thing without knowing what you're doing you can easily mess things up.

And you say voters don't have a real incentive to get informed.

How that's right so you really ask yourself what would happen if you just voted -- random.

The answer is the same thing that happens to -- -- -- right nothing.

-- you're you're because one vote -- you're just probably doesn't matter you're just one little vote out of millions of millions of people.

So if you make -- terrible decision the same thing happens to you that everybody else that happens to everybody else.

Coming -- and Ali an argument with a colleague of mine says -- the problem with your argument -- is it means that we're just getting literally we deserve.

I say well -- the real story is that we're getting the government they deserve and that's the problem.

And the people who really get informed and really are likely to vote and get other people who voted the special interest groups.

That's often true yes.

Because.

Because they have more at stake because yes a special interest groups are paying close attention they know what's going on and people who are listening to them will do you with a told in lot of cases sure.

And the rest of us have lives -- it's it's not our main interest to get somebody in off that's true that's actually right people -- their and other -- people are doing other things -- It's it's very hard very hard to know what they know what's going on although here's the interesting thing.

If all you want to do is vote intelligently.

I'll release not messed things up there there -- there there's just this show just admitted being honest with yourself committing there's a bunch of things that I don't know about and -- -- -- no opinion on them.

By contrast if you are dumb about your personal purchases you are hurt.

On essentially right so if you were walking by used car dealership and you see -- signs saying the best cars in the world's lowest prices.

I even if you don't know a thing about cars you can still exert your common sense skepticism and say yeah right that's what they -- say.

But when a politician comes along people are much more like this how he just looks so trustworthy -- generate smile and therefore he wouldn't lie to me woody.

Hey -- -- and buying the car you.

Clearly gets stuck with a bad car you get punished right away the -- right punishes you right and you may look back and say don't amount to do that again.

And -- -- really striking thing is it's not so much the vote that voters are down as even Smart you know Smart people act dumb when they votes.

I know I know an engineer who is sounding very clever knows that they couldn't could get me -- desert islands.

But his views on economics ridiculous it's not that he's read the textbook and counseling wrong he just knows what he likes and doesn't want -- -- anything else.

And it is my.

Test here it's fairly shallow is this represented give us understand other.

Surveys have found amazing thing -- not so much so when people don't know the answer.

As when they think they know answers that are true.

For example in the budget to a very common view is that foreign aid is actually the largest item in the budget spent 1% of the budget.

I want survey found that you know what's the two biggest items in the budget the winners were foreign aid and and will -- that's right not Social Security not Medicare not defendants not into -- welfare together probably less than 1% of the bunch.

Depends on how you find -- -- probably more or memorial roughly ten when you put them together but it's still I'm not I cannot mention here -- sort of security or Medicare or all.

Ten times bigger and mean really what it looks like people do is they think about how much they like people.

And based upon whether or not they like you to decide whether you're for -- -- in the budget so the elderly we like them so there are probably don't cost much foreigners don't like them so much so the bleeding us dry.

Well thank you Brian cap.

Load More