Are you smarter than a liberal?

[Rainsford]

A good example is the toyota car thing . Lawmakers are going to pass laws that install blackboxes in all cars . Added cost $2000. Pure BS lawmaking.

I would tend to agree with you about the blackbox, but it's also incredibly easy to find counter-examples. Things like mandatory seatbelts and crash safety standards have increased the price of cars a small amount, but have also made driving MUCH safer.

Government quality standards frequently increase upfront costs (which is obviously how conservatives answered the regulation question), but less obvious is that they can increase overall quality and decrease total cost of ownership in the long run. If a builder has to build my house to code, it's going to cost more. On the other hand, if the code is good, my house isn't going to fall apart in 5 years or become a death trap in a fire.

 

[Nemesis 1]

Well I am from a small town . The so called builders in this area suck. Also building to code isn't what you believe it to be . Take trusses for example. Code says 24on center . But No way would I want or use such code. I want 16 on center and it adds cost were as 24 on center lowers cost and degrades roofs faster . Code for wiring same thing . I won't use what is allowed by code. I use better than whats allowed . Most builder contracts build to min. code values . its a 2 edged knife. Same applies to insultaing and ventalation . I use more than min code allows for . Pay today or later pay . I like upfront cost . As for seatbelts and such . Government didn't do this for us . But for the insurance companies . Slight of hand in many of these codes.

If you use a condensing heater unit . Their are rules for pretecting enviroment . Guys are getting inspections and after words removing these measures its all BS. We had trouble with my garage over this . But after I handed the inspector a list of names to recheck that code was followed I got my way . Corruption is deep in this country.

 

[Red Dawn]

Well I am from a small town . The so called builders in this area suck. Also building to code isn't what you believe it to be . Take trusses for example. Code says 24on center . But No way would I want or use such code. I want 16 on center and it adds cost were as 24 on center lowers cost and degrades roofs faster . Code for wiring same thing . I won't use what is allowed by code. I use better than whats allowed . Most builder contracts build to min. code values . its a 2 edged knife. Same applies to insultaing and ventalation . I use more than min code allows for . Pay today or later pay . I like upfront cost . As for seatbelts and such . Government didn't do this for us . But for the insurance companies . Slight of hand in many of these codes.

If you use a condensing heater unit . Their are rules for pretecting enviroment . Guys are getting inspections and after words removing these measures its all BS. We had trouble with my garage over this . But after I handed the inspector a list of names to recheck that code was followed I got my way . Corruption is deep in this country.

Well in you case it's not that you are smarter than a Liberal,the question is are you crazier than a loon.

 

[Nemesis 1]

Nice rebuttle . You most be a Dem.

 

[charrison]

They were simple, it's true...but they were too simple. Economics doesn't have very many questions that fall into the category of "2+2 = ?", and these were not that kind of question. They were too general to conclusively pick a right and wrong answer, IMHO. But we can agree to disagree.

On the other hand, I will say that the CHOICE of questions was entirely biased. Knowledge of economics wasn't necessary for conservatives to get the "right" answers, since ALL of those questions were based on common conservative ideology. I doubt many people polled could have drawn upon any economic knowledge to explain WHY their answers were "correct", their answers just nicely lined up with conservative talking points. Free trade = good. Regulation = bad. With little else, you could have answered those questions exactly as the pollster wanted you to. That seems like a poor test of knowledge to me.

so here are the questions asked...

1) Restrictions on housing development make housing less affordable


2) Mandatory licensing of professional services increases the prices of those services


4) Rent control leads to housing shortages

doing anything to restrict supply will make prices increase. This is not debatable.

3) Overall, the standard of living is higher today than it was 30 years ago

By almost every metric people are far better off today than 30 years ago. Products are generally cheaper and better and we enjoy a much higher standard of living.

5) A company with the largest market share is a monopoly.

There is textbook answer for this question and not open to debate.

6) Third World workers working for American companies overseas are being exploited

I could see there being room for debate there. However most workers are doing far better with their new exploitive job over whatever they did previously.

7) Free trade leads to unemployment

I can see there being debate here, but protecting one industry often hurts others.

8) Minimum wage laws raise unemployment

this is one the known side effects of minimum wage laws. It does decrease employment. When you raise the price of something, there is less demand for it.



I dont find these question to be particularly biased, but I guess you do. And of course, maybe was always an answer.

 

[SphinxnihpS]

They needed a study to find this out? Everyone knows this!