DTF.com.au

Why do 80% of professional economists say Obama has the better economic policy? ?

Eighty per cent of respondents and no fewer than 71% of those who do not cleave to either main party say Mr Obama has a better grasp of economics. Even among Republicans Mr Obama has the edge: 46% versus 23% say Mr Obama has the better grasp of the subject. “I take McCain’s word on this one,” comments James Harrigan at the University of Virginia, a reference to Mr McCain’s infamous confession that he does not know as much about economics as he should. In fairness, Mr McCain’s lower grade may in part reflect greater candour about his weaknesses. Mr Obama’s more tightly managed image leaves fewer opportunities for such unvarnished introspection. A candidate’s economic expertise may matter rather less if he surrounds himself with clever advisers. Unfortunately for Mr McCain, 81% of all respondents reckon Mr Obama is more likely to do that; among unaffiliated respondents, 71% say so. That is despite praise across party lines for the excellent Doug Holtz-Eakin, Mr McCain’s most prominent economic adviser and a former head of the Congressional Budget Office. “Although I have tended to vote Republican,” one reply says, “the Democrats have a deep pool of talented, moderate economists.” Where the candidates’ positions are more clearly articulated, Mr Obama scores better on nearly every issue: promoting fiscal discipline, energy policy, reducing the number of people without health insurance, controlling health-care costs, reforming financial regulation and boosting long-run economic growth. Twice as many economists think Mr McCain’s plan would be bad or very bad for long-run growth as Mr Obama’s. Given how much focus Mr McCain has put on his plan’s benefits for growth, this last is quite a repudiation." http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12342127 Booman: And yet Republican economists were included in the survey, and 46% of them gave Obama the better grade.

Public Comments

1. Mostly because Obama has a better economic policy than McCain.
2. Because it's true. McCain himself praised Obama's economic adviser as the best in the nation during the debate.
3. Because there's always a small percent who only look for themselves.
4. warren buffet thinks so too the best economists in the world were against the bush tax cuts, mccain was too, but now he is for them? i don't understand this man. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2735269.stm OBAMA 08
5. They don't.......Here is an excert from your own source. Our survey is not, by any means, a scientific poll of all economists. We e-mailed a questionnaire to 683 research associates, all we could track down, of the National Bureau of Economic Research, America’s premier association of applied academic economists, though the NBER itself played no role in the survey. A total of 142 responded, of whom 46% identified themselves as Democrats, 10% as Republicans and 44% as neither. This skewed party breakdown may reflect academia’s Democratic tilt, or possibly Democrats’ greater propensity to respond. Still, even if we exclude respondents with a party identification, Mr Obama retains a strong edge—though the McCain campaign should be buoyed by the fact that 530 economists have signed a statement endorsing his plans.
6. Because its TRUE
7. Because McCain hired 20% of the economists to back him.
8. So what? last year Bernanke.Paulson and Dodd all had a good grasp on the economy. And look where it is now...Maybe Obama is offering more "economist" jobs...but this is no different than the NRA endorsing McCain...even though there is some disagreement. Obama cannot sustain the hope he promises and his real change agenda is all about him being in charge.
9. I know that is what some think but others think otherwise. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yu7XaG3T4yc
10. Who knows why as the same folks were wrong when they recommended deregulation a few years ago, we now have before us a choice between two parties who demonstrated by passage of th bail out bills that they do not listen to the American people, and while I shall vote for John McCain, I must say in my 61 years on this earth these are the worst election choice I have seen. It would have been better to have Palin v Biden at least both of them will answer a question straight up
11. Because his policy is better than McCain's, plain and simple, no twisted words. Read both of their websites and see for yourself.
12. Because its true. Some economic activity is best provided by markets, some by other means, like unions or co-ops, and some by some level of government. The most efficient economy is a mixed economy, where all economic activity takes place in the realm where it is most efficient.