Non-Scientific Quiz to Determine Your Economic Style

What's Wrong with the World Wednesdays presents...

This week I thought I'd take a break from offering my much-anticipated, largely-reviled analyses of bitterly debated topics. Since I've had to spend the bulk of the last two weeks completing a laborious take-home exam and steeping myself in modern economic thought, I thought I'd share some of my findings with you in this fun, non-scientific quiz on different economic schools of thought!

I don't take any responsibility for flaws in this quiz, but I hope you take it and let me know who you end up with. I welcome input/corrections from anyone who knows more about history of economic theory than I do.

So grab a pen a paper, or take this fully automated and scrambled version here to find out:

What's Your Economic Style?

1. The stock market is:

a. Evil and capitalism only serves to sabotage the order that can be created when processes are managed prudently.

b. Not evil, but nonsense, speculation, and gambling.

c. The best mechanism for exchange we currently know of.

d. What's the stock market for?

2. Individuals choosing in their own self-interest is:

a. Flawed and leads to inequality.

b. Impossible, people don't have enough information to make appropriate decisions.

c. Guaranteed to allocate resources most efficiently.

d. Not something I care about.

3. Technological advances are:

a. Independent of capital markets. Capital markets take advantage of technology and abuse it.

b. Going to lead inevitably to social degradation if the government doesn't intervene.

c. Informed and created by capitalistic profits; necessary to improve the standard of living.

d. Robots are my friends.

4. Businessmen, CEOs, and entrepreneurs:

a. Resort to subversive, almost warlike tactics to "win" in business.

b. Improve the economy only by offering jobs and products at "fair" wages and prices.

c. Are the keystones upon which the world functions, jobs are created, and lives improved.

d. Make cool stuff, but get paid too much. Unless, of course, I had their job.

5. Left to decide for themselves, most men:

a. Have a basic instinct for workmanship regardless of pay, and won't mind fluctuations in business cycles.

b. Will work as long as the nominal rate of pay stays the same or increases, but won't react to real wage decreases due to taxes or inflation.

c. Will work until a certain threshold of pay is fulfilled in relation to the unavoidable pain of working.

d. Would like to have the day off.

6. Economic depressions are caused by:

a. Technological changes causing displacement of workers.

b. Excess savings, abnormally high interest rates that discourage investment.

c. Normal business cycles, but should be short-lived.

d. Not enough love in this world.

7. Child-rearing is:

a. A conspicuous undertaking of the leisure class, leading to excess consumption, and frivolous sense of import among elite social circles.

b. Neither here nor there; I have no particular interest or admonition of children and parenthood.

c. Critical to be undertaken maintaining a high level of education to ensure our future leaders are appropriately prepared.

d. A laugh a minute.

8. Friendship is:

a. Transient.

b. Necessary.

c. Welcome.

d. Non-existent.

9. The best way to improve the economy is:

a. To observe behaviors and human instincts. Psychology and sociology have much to contribute to economic ideas, by learning about human needs and allocating resources to them.

b. Using taxes and government spending to guide the economy over the short-term.

c. Gather information and statistics, in which human behavior is already included. Economic decisions should be informed by logic and reason.

d. Giving people more money than they need!

10. Today's economy is...

a. On the brink of dramatic change. Technology and education has given us tools to put the economy into the hands of social engineers who can more appropriately direct funds.

b. Experiencing a normal cycle in which taxation of certain social segments or increased government spending for the public good should correct it.

c. Being unduly influenced by the government.

d. Better than ever!

Answer Key:

Mostly A's? You mostly closely match the school of American Institutionalism, founded by Thorstein Veblen. Veblen admonished what he considered "conspicuous consumption" by the leisure class. He also believed that capitalism was evil and inefficient at allocation of resources to their most highly valued use.

Mostly B's? You most closely match the school of Keynesian Economics, founded by John Maynard Keynes. Keynes believed in interventionism, or government use of fiscal and monetary policy to control business cycles, recessions, booms.

Mostly C's? You most closely match the school of Neo-Classical Austrian Economics, greatly expanded by Ludwig von Mises (he didn't invent the school of thought, but dramatically clarified and perfected many arguments.) Ludwig von Mises believed strongly in logic and reason to determine economic principles. He believed protection of individual rights, private property, and free markets would lead to greatest overall wealth, standards of living, and best allocation of resources.

Mostly D's? Congratulations, you don't have a school of thought, but you could probably start one, as you can see nothing needs to be consistent to call yourself an economist!