Today’s Class

• Announcements - Discussion
• Misinformtion, Disinformation, EC Quiz Answers
• Next class: Federalism

Announcements

• I am adding a “recommended schedule” for Chapter assignments in Canvas.

            - Due dates are unchanged
            - Chapter 4 Inquizitives this week (recommended) 
            - Chapters 1 to 5 due September 20 (DEADLINE!)
            - I will be sending reminders to those who are behind schedule from Canvas Gradebook. 
            - There is no need to reply to the reminders.

• How many hours a week should you spend outside of class on this course?

• Syllabus Quiz: Get Out of Jail Free supersedes Late Policy

           -  The correct answer for Question 10 "I didn't finish an assignment on time, I should?" should be: If it is my first missed assignment, I can use my Get Out of Jail Free Card to drop the grade. If I have already used my Get Out of Jail Free card, there are no extensions.

Misinformation, Disinformation, and Information Consumers

• Information consumers: US! The people receiving and acting on the information

• Misinformation: false or misleading information that is unknowingly shared

• Disinformation: false or misleading information that is purposely created and distributed

            - Out of context: missing surrounding words and circumstances, real meaning may be the opposite
            - Unusual definitions: different meaning than normal speech of the *information consumer* 
            - Lies

Three kinds of lies

“There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.”

Attributed to:

            - Benjamin Disraeli
            - Mark Twain
            - Aldous Huxley
            - Leonard Henry, Baron Courtney of Penwith
            

Related: “Liars, damned liars, and experts!”

55% of Budget for Defense

55percent_defense meme

Unusual Definitions/Lack of Context

Tax Dollars Meme

Unusual Definitions/Lack of Context

• This meme purposely confuses two different things

Simple definitions:

            - Discretionary: set in every budget
            - Nondiscretionary: set far in advance
            - Total budget: Discretionary plus Nondiscretionary
            

• This shows only discretionary spending

            - Most spending on the little categories is nondiscretionary
            - Virtually all defense spending is discretionary

• If we show the total budget, the picture changes drastically

• If we show only nondiscretionary, the rocket disappears

Why is this a problem?

“This week on Facebook I ran into a couple of memes about the defense budget that I thought were worth addressing. While the core message that the United States spends too much on the military is sound, these particular memes are so massively misleading that I think it would be irresponsible to let them go unanswered…”

“Our education spending is about average (though somehow we do it so inefficiently that we don’t provide college for free, unlike Germany, France, Finland, Sweden, or Norway)…How about a meme about that?”

Human Economics

Practical and Moral Dimension

• Practical issue:

            - If you believe in something, is it better to make an honest argument that you can back up with facts or to resort to misinformation, disinformation, distortions, and lies?
  
            - What happens if someone arguing for something gets caught lying? What do the people listening think?
  
            - Which is more effective?

• Moral Dimension

            - Do you personally want to unknowingly spread disinformation?

                            -https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/4124631-these-11-senators-voted-against-the-must-pass-defense-spending-bill/

Do This Now

Do This Now

Extra Credit Quiz Answers

The Extra Credit Quiz Answers are based on actual federal budget data from the US Department of the Treasury from 2021 last fiscal year:

Preview

Goals: Understand the problems. Understand the solutions. Argue more effectively for what you want. Don’t spread misinformation and look dishonest.

Healthcare vs Defense Spending

defense healthcare coronavirus meme

Question 1

Of the four following categories, which does the federal government spend the most on?

1. police
2. national defense
3. healthcare
4. veteran’s benefits

Question 1: Answer

Of the four following categories, which does the federal government spend the most on?

Correct answer C

1. police - in “other” category, unknown share of 4%
2. national defense - 13% of budget
3. HEALTHCARE - 14% plus 12% for Medicare
4. veteran’s benefits - 4% of budget

Healthcare vs Defense Spending

Honest meme: Healthcare should be twice as big as defense!

defense healthcare coronavirus meme