Self-identified liberals and Democrats do badly on questions of basic economics.

As many of us conservatives have known all along, liberals are not knowledgeable in and do not understand basic economics. This article goes a long way in proving that observation with facts. Too bad these "Economics 101" drop outs are now in charge of the cookie jar.

Excerpt: On every question the left did much worse. On the monopoly question, the portion of progressive/very liberals answering incorrectly (31%) was more than twice that of conservatives (13%) and more than four times that of libertarians (7%). On the question about living standards, the portion of progressive/very liberals answering incorrectly (61%) was more than four times that of conservatives (13%) and almost three times that of libertarians (21%).

The survey also asked about party affiliation. Those responding Democratic averaged 4.59 incorrect answers. Republicans averaged 1.61 incorrect, and Libertarians 1.26 incorrect.

Adam Smith described political economy as "a branch of the science of a statesman or legislator." Governmental power joined with wrongheadedness is something terrible, but all too common. Realizing that many of our leaders and their constituents are economically unenlightened sheds light on the troubles that surround us. Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?