Quiz

You may have read the story that a group of elected officials scored just 44 percent on a quiz measuring their civic knowledge, compared to a score of 49 percent by ordinary citizens. What I found most interesting is that the question missed most often by these officials was the following:

Free markets typically secure more economic prosperity than government’s centralized planning because:

A. the price system utilizes more local knowledge of means and ends

B. markets rely upon coercion, whereas government relies upon voluntary compliance with the law

C. more tax revenue can be generated from free enterprise

D. property rights and contracts are best enforced by the market system

E. government planners are too cautious in spending taxpayers’ money

Only 10.71 percent of elected officials got this one right, which is particularly depressing because a mere guess should result in a 20 percent chance of getting the right answer. I suppose it explains a lot though.