Mark Perry over at Carpe Diem continues to deliver the goods. The most recent is his post where he links to an Economics Literacy Test. This is a test administered in 1998 by the Minneapolis Federal Reserve. There are 13 questions on the test. Each question is multiple choice.
I took the test and finished in nearly 5 minutes; maybe a little more.
As an FYI, the average score for the test’s 404 participants was 45%.
I scored 92.3%. 12 out of 13.
Took about three minutes, and I only missed one, mostly because I misunderstood the vague question (“the most important function of economies”). The questions are pretty poorly written and I’d nitpick on some of them. In some cases, I guess there was a “most right answer,” that is an answer that was better than the others presented even if not the best answer overall. For example, the question about increased production of a product in a fully employed environment doesn’t mention advances that would increase the productivity of that sector, it simply assumes everything is zero-sum.
The questions are pretty poorly written and I’d nitpick on some of them.
Yeah, but that’s like how those problems present themselves too. But I agree.
I guess there was a “most right answer,” that is an answer that was better than the others presented even if not the best answer overall.
It’s shocking to me that the survey scored so poorly.