An interesting project reported on in the Wall Street Journal today. (The online version is available to subscribers only. The story appears on page A7 of the print version.) The Journal asked all 32 living winners of the Nobel Prize in economics a set of questions, including this one: "Which country in the world comes closest to getting economic policy right today?" Of the twelve who responded, only two -- Vernon Smith from George Mason University and Harry Markowitz at UC San Diego -- identified the United States.
Apparently the votes were pretty scattered, as two made the US the leading vote-getter, an honor it shared with Norway. Penn's Lawrence Klein liked Norway because its policies promote "fairness." Clive Granger, also from UC San Diego, is a fan of Norway because "It has oil, and it spends the proceeds sensibly."
Princeton's John Nash chose Switzerland, while George Akerlof (from Berkely) favors Sweden "because it takes care of those who are in need". According to the Journal, "Stanford's William F. Sharpe said 'possibly the U.K., almost certainly not the U.S.'" Although not usually the front-runner, quite a few of the big brains seem to think China warrants at least an honorable mention.
Maybe the last word, however, should go to James Buchanan, another Nobel laureate calling George Mason his home base. He refused to answer, because "I consider the questions to be fatuous and not worthy of serious consideration"