Summer Reading

A new title by Bryan Caplan, entitled "The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies" promises excellent summer reading and fodder for future discussion. I'm ordering my copy today.

From the introduction, it appears that Caplan's chief complaint is that voters are irrational; a common complaint from economists. It is inconvenient for them that humans are both rational and irrational. Their formulas can't accommodate the irrational part. He proposes that the preferred alternative to democracy is not dictatorship, but unfettered markets. Seems to me like we're already there.

This book should create a stir. I'm looking forward to it.