Good Economics for Hard Times

On many weighty matters, economists and everyday people disagree.

People worldwide are growing less confident in experts. This trend is especially pronounced when it comes to the gap between the opinions of professional economists and the beliefs of everyday individuals. Economists generally favor boosting federal taxes, a notion that’s anathema to many taxpayers. And economists tend not to think that corporate bosses make too much money, contrary to the widely held view of American voters. A wave of populist politicians is responding to this disconnect with policies that run counter to conventional economic wisdom.

American voters have become deeply polarized in recent years, a phenomenon that’s largely due to the rise of social media. In early 2019, Facebook had more than two billion users, and Twitter counted more than 300 million account holders. Social media lends itself to echo chambers, which allow partisans to consume only information that conforms to their preconceived notions. Meanwhile, Facebook and Twitter don’t vet outlandish political claims, allowing peddlers of conspiracy theories and false claims to cheaply spread their messages...