Alfabetización económica

Hace una semana publicó el Wall Street Journal un intercambio de opiniones muy interesante sobre el tema de la "economic literacy" (¿alfabetización económica?) entre dos bloggers especializados en estos temas, Russell Roberts (de Cafe Hayek) y William Polley, que también lleva un blog con su nombre. Hablando de la dimensión "factual" del desconocimiento de sus estudiantes sobre Economía dice Roberts:

Even among highly-educated groups such as journalists or congressional staffers, the median answer is depressingly similar -- they think 20% of the American work force earns the minimum wage or less. In fact, the actual number is something less than 3%. Usually a non-trivial portion of each group thinks that our material well-being is lower today than 100 years ago. Their median answer is that we are 50% better off than we were 100 years ago. In fact, the average American is at least five and maybe 30 times better off than we were in the good old days. There's a dramatic range because it's hard to value the opportunity to listen to your iPod while recovering from open heart surgery. But 50% is a very bad answer.

Es la misma sensación que yo tengo, año tras año, con muchos de mis alumnos de Sociología, tanto por sus conocimientos / desconocimientos de economía (tanto conceptual como factualmente) cuanto por sus desconocimientos / conocimientos de la sociedad española. En este último caso, buena parte de los fallos tiene que ver con que los estudiantes proyectan alegremente su conocimiento local (el que tienen por formar parte de un grupo de amigos, de una familia, de un barrio, de una clase en la Facultad) al conjunto de España. Y así, cuando les digo, por ejemplo, que sólo un 6% de las parejas en el año 2001 son parejas de hecho, no acaban de creérselo hasta que les enseño los datos del Censo. Una de las razones por las que escribo estas anotaciones tiene que ver con esos desconocimientos; de ahí la "serie" de gráficos curiosos con que les aburro de tanto en tanto.

Pero el argumento de Roberts va más allá, claro, pues los problemas conceptuales quizá son más graves. En ello abunda Polley, hacia el final de la conversación, con un par de frases que me parecen de relieve:

I'm not even sure that a single word or short phrase could capture the range of things that you and I consider to be elements of economic literacy. Perhaps a return to the ideas of Adam Smith as expressed in both "The Wealth of Nations" and "The Theory of Moral Sentiments" would yield some suggestions though, because I think it would reveal how much more broadly we have to think.

"The Wealth of Nations" is a treatise on man's interaction with his fellow man in the marketplace. That is, it's a study of prudence. Today, it ends up being taught as constrained maximization, and in the rush to cover all of the techniques, essential insights can be lost if you're not careful. A thorough examination of the virtue of prudence as Adam Smith perceived it would be time well spent, and it's a nice complement to the idea of constrained maximization for those who are technically inclined.

"The Theory of Moral Sentiments," on the other hand, is a treatise on temperance. It is a study of propriety, sympathy, and justice. Sadly, many people don't even know the book exists or that it was written by the man who is sometimes called the "father of capitalism." Ignorance of Smith's other major work leads people to think that economics is only about greed, self-interest, and rational maximization. As a result, many intelligent people who would be quite capable of becoming economically literate are turned off to economics because they see it as promoting a "greed is good" mentality that doesn't square with their world view. Unfortunately, this perception is so well embedded in the pop culture view of economics and economists that it may be very difficult to reverse.

Se les olvida, quizá, que lo que ellos llaman "economic way of thinking" sea una manera de ver las cosas que no nos sale naturalmente, tal como nos recordaba hace unos meses Memetic Warrior al recomendarnos un excelente texto, "Folk economics", de Paul H. Rubin.

De todos modos, quizá convendría que hubiera más economistas (y sociólogos, claro) que se preocuparan de que los "laicos" nos enteremos de qué va la cosa. El ruego de Daniel Klein en "A plea to economists who favour liberty: assist the everyman" merece ser escuchado.