How many Americans are going to die from the coronavirus? How will we know if the national government or the states have done a commendable job or a terrible one?
Here’s a comment from President Donald Trump in late March:
“You’re talking about 2.2 million deaths, 2.2 million people from this. And so if we could hold that down, as we’re saying, to 100,000. It’s a horrible number, maybe even less – but to 100,000. So we have between 100 and 200,000, and we altogether have done a very good job.”
Do you see what Trump did there? It’s called “anchoring,” and it’s one of the most important findings in behavioral science.
People who have been involved in real estate, like Trump, are often experts in the use of anchors. Trump specified an anchor (2.2 million deaths), and he used it to support his claim that if 100,000 to 200,000 Americans end up dying, he has “done a very good job.”