Economist.com conducted a survey of 142 research associates of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and found that 80% of them prefer Barack Obama's economic policies!
Regardless of party affiliation, our respondents generally agree the economy is in bad shape, that the election is important to the course of economic policy and that the housing and financial crisis is the most critical economic issue facing America...
Eighty per cent of respondents and no fewer than 71% of those who do not cleave to either main party say Mr Obama has a better grasp of economics. Even among Republicans Mr Obama has the edge: 46% versus 23% say Mr Obama has the better grasp of the subject.
Let me emphasize for effect: Even self-identifying Republican economists prefer Obama's economic policies by a 2-to-1 margin.
"Although I have tended to vote Republican," one reply says, "the Democrats have a deep pool of talented, moderate economists."
On a scale of 1 to 5, Obama's plan received an average rating of 3.3 compared to a measly 2.2 for John "Don't Know Much About Economics" McCain.
Mr Obama scores better on nearly every issue: promoting fiscal discipline, energy policy, reducing the number of people without health insurance, controlling health-care costs, reforming financial regulation and boosting long-run economic growth. 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.
In fairness, McCain does slightly better than George W. Bush. And I just love this dig at GWB.
"The minimum rating of one severely overestimates the quality of Bush’s economic policies," says one non-aligned economist.
Read the article here and the full study here.