Ideology and positive economic beliefs: some experimental and survey evidence

Disagreements about economic policy stem not just from differences in normative values, but also from differences in beliefs about which outcomes are likely. We review a selection of survey work showing this. We also report on our own work with US and Russian research subjects, which employs a combination of survey methods, psychometric measurement procedures and evidence-generating demonstrations drawn from experimental economics. Political ideology seems to be an important correlate of the positive economic beliefs of US, but not Russian, subjects. We discuss the implications of differing economic beliefs for economic policymaking, when ideology affects beliefs. However, we also find that non-economists can be persuaded that economic theories work when they see evidence to that effect.