[llayner]

I think you need to define your terms a bit better. My opinion is the poor know more about budget constraints and maximization within those on a micro level; the wealthy, being, lets assume, more educated (formal or informal) understand more about finance and investing. You can even go a step further and assume that because they are more educated they would know more about local, domestic and/or global economics (the macro).

To get to your question about economic decisions being made by popular vote or wealth vote, the reason it wouldn't make sense for an aeronautic engineering decision being made by someone who is undereducated in the field is it abstracts from a reality they play little role in. Economic decisions where competing groups push their self interest (both the wealthy and the poor) come to a more positive outcome than those made only by one sector of that self interest.