In the meantime, shaping public opinion was crucial. Efforts should probably focus on men, because they “are more likely to think like economists,” whereas women tend to anticipate the downside of economic liberty and so support government intervention. Research being done at George Mason also suggested a good deal of irrationality in the electorate, which could be turned to advantage. “It might be possible for ‘irrationally held’ views to in fact support good policies,” particularly if the cause were to enlist insights from “cognitive science and perhaps evolutionary biology.” Knowledge of
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