Economic ignorance is commonplace. Here are 3 examples from the past few days:

1. I don’t know if a second stimulus will work, but I’m glad Obama is doing something.

2. We’ll never get our economy back on track if the rich don’t pay more taxes.

3. [The economics of] healthcare is too complicated for me to figure out. I’m just glad the government is stepping in to make sure I get it.

For many of you, the logical flaws in these statements is obvious. As for comment #1, why is “doing something” better than doing nothing if what is being proposed has already been tried and failed? Why must the government “do something” whenever a problem exists? Shouldn’t it act only when it can solve the problem.

As for #2, the “rich” do most of the hiring in a free market economy, and they hire fewer people when they pay more taxes. You could argue that the rich should pay LESS in taxes before the economy will recover.

#3 suffers from the same problem as #1, the idea that government needs to control our lives when things get complicated.  In both instances, I responded by asking the person what he or she was doing to learn more about the issue (stimulus spending or healthcare). Following the blank stares, I had my opening and countered with 2-minute presentations of some basic facts.

I rarely win free market converts in a few minutes, but I do try to make people think. Perhaps they’ll start listening more critically to the news, or maybe they’ll come back to discuss the issue again later. Perhaps someone else will pick up where I left off. If we are going to change Washington next November, I’m convinced we need to stay informed ourselves, and educate our friends, neighbors, and coworkers. It won’t happen overnight.

By the way, the runner-up for “top 3″ this week was “I’m not sure what’s going on in Copenhagen, but we need to do something about the environment.” I’ll save my thoughts on this gem for another day.