Birth year and partisanship - InvestingChannel

Birth year and partisanship

The New York Times has a wonderful graphic miss-urled http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/07/08/upshot/how-the-year-you-were-born-influences-your-politics.html Jon Chait points out that this URL (and a tweet) are accurate only if you are white (he doesn’t add that it only works if you are also a US citizen).

I think you will enjoy clicking the link in any case. I was struck by two radically different cohorts. White US citizens born in 1954 and in 1955. The difference is only 3% more of the younger cohort now identify as Republican, but it is quite striking compared to other differences across cohorts. What might explain the difference ?

Here are true blue elderly oldies now age 60

oldies

here are red shifting kids now age 59

kids

Whatever could make such a difference. It couldn’t possibly be that 60 year old men received draft notices when 18 in 1972 and 59 year old men didn’t receive draft notices when 18 in 1973 could it ?

Now this places a point estimate of the utterly selfish as 6 % of men (or of roughly 3% each of men and women if one assumes that young women aren’t so selfish they they don’t mind their boyfriends being drafted). It is however, at least a tiny bit depressing.

Related posts

Idiocy in Spain: Bank Proposal to Build More Houses, Issue More Mortgages, Despite Massive Inventory and Enormous Drop in Sales

Mish Global Economic Trend Analysis

Sky City: China to Build World’s Tallest Building, 220 Stories, in 90 Days

Mish Global Economic Trend Analysis

It’s No Wonder People Don’t Understand the “Public” Debt

Angry Bear

EU Budget Laugh of the Day “No One Is Discussing Quality”

Mish Global Economic Trend Analysis

Via Barry Ritholtz’s  Big Picture comes this PBS six minute …

Angry Bear

Politics and Specific Policies

Angry Bear