Will belief trump economic facts for Obama?

YOU might call it the cognitive divide — the split between an evidence-based worldview and one that is rooted in faith or ideology — and it is one of the most important fault lines in the United States today.

President Barack Obama called attention to the cognitive divide, and reminded us which side he comes down on, when he chose the Princeton University economist Alan Krueger to lead his Council of Economic Advisers.

Krueger is a labour economist, and at first blush, that focus may seem the important part of his resume. Unemployment, after all, is still above 9%, and the president has said job creation is his priority. But when you talk to the insiders about Krueger, they note his mastery of data and commitment to the truths it can be coaxed to tell.