Covid-19 and attitudes about markets and government

The Covid-19 pandemic has dramatically disrupted our lives and revealed features--both strengths and weaknesses--of the economy and government that may not have been clear or seemed relevant before. In this research project, we investigate whether the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted beliefs about markets and government. In a prior experiment conducted in the Fall of 2019, we studied whether introductory microeconomics courses increase (decrease) students' support for markets (government) compared to introductory biology, chemistry, and physics courses. Specifically, we compared subjects' post-course online survey results to their pre-course online survey results. The same online survey will be distributed to the students in the Spring of 2020 to compare subjects' current online survey results to their pre-pandemic online survey results. A secondary outcome of interest is whether within-subject differences are correlated with their prior exposure to economics courses or demographic characteristics, e.g., gender, race, or family income.