The Economists agree: pick Obama.

The Economist magazine recently surveyed members of the prestigious National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) about the presidential candidates' respective approaches to the Economy. The responders overwhelmingly said that Obama surpasses McCain in his grasp of economics, and that Obama's economic plan is superior to McCain's.




Here are a few significant excerpts from the Economist writeup:

Even among Republicans Mr Obama has the edge: 46% versus 23% say Mr Obama has the better grasp of the subject.

“John McCain has professed disdain for ‘so-called economists’, and for some the feeling has become mutual,” says Erik Brynjolfsson, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management. “Obama’s team is mainstream and non-ideological but extremely talented.”

Mr Obama, says Jonathan Parker, a non-aligned professor at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, “is a pragmatist not an ideologue. I expect Clintonian economic policies.”

Twice as many economists think Mr McCain’s plan would be bad or very bad for long-run growth as Mr Obama’s. Given how much focus Mr McCain has put on his plan’s benefits for growth, this last is quite a repudiation.

For the complete article, click here.