One-Third of Americans View Economy as Zero-Sum, Fueling Partisan Divides
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About one third of Americans believe the economy is zero-sum, meaning one person's gain requires another's loss. This view is more common among Democrats regarding ethnic groups and Republicans regarding immigrants.
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People with a zero-sum worldview are more likely to support redistributive policies like higher taxes on the rich and affirmative action. They also tend to favor restrictive immigration policies.
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Zero-sum thinking is more prevalent among young people, Black Americans, Jews who survived the Holocaust, and whites from the American South. It's less common among Asian Americans and rural whites.
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Zero-sum thinkers were more likely to vote for Donald Trump in 2016.
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Belief in zero-sum economics may originate from humanity's long agrarian history when growth was negligible, versus the exponential growth enabled by the Industrial Revolution.