The Irrational Voter

Bryan Caplan, a professor of economics at George Mason University, in his book "The Myth of the Rational Voter", claims, 'In a democracy voters systematically favor irrational policies', adding, 'rational politicians give them what they want.'
Caplan says that 'ignorant voters do not vote randomly'. He theorizes "Four Biases" that makes voters demand policies that actually makes them worse off:
1. In a complex world, voters don't understand how the pursuit of profits can lead to public benefits: therefore voters have an "anti-market bias".
2. People don't understand how foreigners help the economy, and foreigners are often made scapegoats. Hence there is an "anti-foreign bias".
3. Voters think that prosperity equates with employment when in reality a nation's "output" or production is what really counts. Caplan calls this "make-work bias". The make-work bias is best illustrated by a story, perhaps apocryphal, of an economist who visits China under Mao Zedong. He sees hundreds of workers building a dam with shovels. He asks: “Why don't they use a mechanical digger?” “That would put people out of work,” replies the foreman. “Oh,” says the economist, “I thought you were making a dam. If it's jobs you want, take away their shovels and give them spoons.”
For an individual, the make-work bias makes some sense. He prospers if he has a job. For the nation as a whole, however, what matters is not whether people have jobs, but how they do them. The more people produce, the greater the general prosperity. It helps, therefore, if people shift from less productive occupations to more productive ones. Economists, recalling that before the industrial revolution 95% of Americans were farmers, worry far less about downsizing than ordinary people do.
4. Caplan calls the final one "pessimism bias". Meaning, voters will always think that they're worse-off than they really are. They fallaciously think that economic conditions are bad by merely looking at prices of petrol, or onions. Naturally, this "pessimism bias" is likely to be exploited by the opposition: Vote for me, and things will get better.