Attention Economy


Monday, June 27, 2016

Are Voters Rational?

Brexit is a reminder that some things just shouldn’t be decided by referendum – Washington Post

A scary finding from UK –
“One of the reasons it's gotten harder for experts -- pollsters, bookmakers, economic modelers -- to predict election outcomes is that too many people make up their minds too late. According to a recent report by the market research firm Opinium, 20 percent to 30 percent of voters make a final decision within a week of casting their ballots, half of them on the day of the vote. In the U.K., a lot of these last-minute deciders are swayed by the tabloid press.
The Sun has a perfect record of backing the winning side in every election and referendum in the U.K. has had. ...
Reeves and his collaborators formulated a "theory of naïve preferences," versus "enlightened preferences," to explain how it happens. "Persons who have naïve preferences have values grounded in issues other than ideologies or policy positions, typically involving perceived charisma or competence," they wrote. "Sun readers are less politically knowledgeable and have weaker commitments to particular ideologies and are therefore more likely to exhibit naïve preferences than other newspaper readers." These same readers could probably be persuaded to vote "remain."”


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Meanwhile, European cities are competing to attract financial sector firms looking to decamp from London –
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-06-27/brexit-boon-seen-for-european-cities-poaching-london-bankers