Thinking Like An Economist

It has recently been claimed that Sarah Palin was unaware that Africa was a continent, not a country. Though I am no Palin fan, I expressed skepticism to my friend and colleague Jayson Lusk that this was true. It just doesn't seem plausible.

Jayson noted that it was her aids/consultants who started this rumor. After Palin lost, her aids became unemployed and certainly wanted to maintain their reputation as consultants for future elections. Given their client lost, to protect this reputation, perhaps they spread the rumor to convince people that it was Sarah's fault, not theirs, that Obama won the election.

That is thinking like an economist.

I was never convince John McCain was really running for president. I assumed it was just his attempt to "get it on" with Sarah Palin. If you read anything about McCain when he was young, you would know that chasing skirts was indeed his highest priority!