Trusting the public

An important part of Radical Centrism is a belief that the voters really know what's best for them. Their being no agreed-to objective measure of the public good, even in economics, we have to allow an informed public make its own decisions and trust that people know what they want, or at least deserve to make their own mistakes.

This interview with economist Arthur Laffer, famed as the inspiration for Reaganomics (hat tip to Donald Luskin), includes a ringing endorsement of the "genius of the people".

Q: What's the most prevalent and most dangerous economic myth that the public believes that needs to be debunked?

A: Bottom line, I think the public's got it.

Q: Really?

A: I'm really impressed with the public. The electorate really sees through all this crap. They understand free trade. They understand low, flat-rate taxes. They understand sound money. The electorate is really cool. I'm superbly impressed by democracy -- and I'm not natively that way inclined, just so you know.

Laffer remains an active participants in politics. Here is California he is an important proponent of the Redistricting Reform proposals now being debated