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There is an answer on the main site which purports to portray the sitting American president as a bit of a simpleton (which I may or may not agree with). The problem is that while doing this the answer sources a quote to the president which he did not say. While in Economics we often tell fables to get a point across, I find this problematic.

My reasoning is that it gets us closer to sympathy based political voting and that can distort which one is the best answer.

In this case I find that the answer is great other than this problem. I still don't think that is an excuse. The poster of the answer rolled back edits that did nothing but removed this part. Rather he edited in a part which states that the quote is false. In my opinion this is still a bad work around.

Are there any suggestions on how to proceed?

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I suggest that the answer be edited again to remove the parts referring to the president and the statement that the quote is false, and then locked to prevent any further editing (moderators have the power to do the latter as stated here).

While some may perceive otherwise, I wouldn't see this as censorship. It's just a matter of what is appropriate content for a site that aims to build up a set of definitive answers to questions on economics.

An effect of locking is that it also prevents further voting. If there were a way to prevent editing while still permitting voting I would suggest that, but it seems there isn't.

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  • $\begingroup$ @EconJohn. Now locked - thank you. $\endgroup$
    – Adam Bailey
    Commented Mar 22, 2018 at 9:48
  • $\begingroup$ It seems unreasonable to lock the question. It prevents editing, voting, and new answers. $\endgroup$
    – psn
    Commented Mar 22, 2018 at 14:30
  • $\begingroup$ @psn It's just the one answer that has been locked. The question and other existing answers can be edited and voted on, and (subject to having 10 rep) new answers can still be posted. $\endgroup$
    – Adam Bailey
    Commented Mar 22, 2018 at 18:27
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    $\begingroup$ For the record, on 21 March when the answer on the main site was locked, this answer had received net +4 votes. $\endgroup$
    – Adam Bailey
    Commented Apr 4, 2018 at 12:57
  • $\begingroup$ And it still has 4 upvotes while the other answer has 2, so I am not changing the accepted status. Unfortunately the angry boys could adapt to my decision rule and start upvoting the alternative, so I am unlikely to change the accepted answer ever. $\endgroup$
    – Giskard
    Commented Apr 19, 2018 at 11:51
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The default answer is:

Vox populi
Give the masses what they want and let the answer stand as is!

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