Economics has political implications that cannot be ignored, but I strive in my teaching to not allow how I vote to affect how I teach. I try to focus on the economic point of view without coloring it with my private opinion, giving fair treatment to different points of view. Every four years, I ask students about their perceptions, and here are the results for a survey given in two classes on November 7, 2000. Voter turnouts appear to be higher in EC458 than EC301, which is consistent with the argument that more education makes people more likely to vote, but EC301 has a larger number of foreign-born students so this may not mean anything at all.
Independents clearly appear to be much less likely to vote.
EC 458, on the other hand, is pretty evenly split. It is not clear if the course material changed any votes or pushed anyone towards the middle.