As a sophomore in college, I took a microeconomics class taught by Dr Joseph Horton. The first day’s lecture consisted of the usual happenings such as going over the syllabus and both instructor and student introductions. While introducing myself, I mentioned my aspiration for politics and a possible political career. Dr Horton replied that politics was an honorable career, but that sound economics often disagrees with sound politics. As the semester continued, I began to understand why politics and economics sometimes mesh like water and oil.
Here is a list of unpopular ideas that most economists agree on via an archived blog by one of my favorite economist Dr Greg Mankiw. It should be noted that I strongly support every item on this list and I plan on explaining my stance in future posts.
- 87.5 percent agree that “the U.S. should eliminate remaining tariffs and other barriers to trade.”
- 85.2 percent agree that “the U.S. should eliminate agricultural subsidies.”
- 85.3 percent agree that “the gap between Social Security funds and expenditures will become unsustainably large within the next fifty years if current policies remain unchanged.”
- 77.2 percent agree that “the best way to deal with Social Security’s long-term funding gap is to increase the normal retirement age.”
- 67.1 percent agree that “parents should be given educational vouchers which can be used at government-run or privately-run schools.”
- 65.0 percent agree that “the U.S. should increase energy taxes.”
- 90.1 percent disagree with the position that “the U.S. should restrict employers from outsourcing work to foreign countries
- 46.8 percent want the federal minimum wage eliminated.