Even if we trust only experimental evidence, rational irrationality is a credible explanation for the public’s biased beliefs about economics. Experimentalists admit that incentives help for relatively easy questions. Antimarket, antiforeign, make-work, and pessimistic bias all qualify. These are not subtle errors, but knee-jerk reactions. In non-political contexts, people routinely overcome them. How many refrain from buying appliances because it “destroys jobs”?
