I sometimes watch Morning Joe on MSNBC while I’m exercising on the elliptical machine. I have to admit that I have a grudging affection for Joe Scarborough. He has a good sense of humor and sometimes surprises me in his opinions. The show is mostly entertainment, so I probably shouldn’t let it get to me, but this morning it did.They had a Harvard economist on the show to talk about the state of the economy and the appropriate policy responses. Joe went off on a rant about how Fed Chair Bernanke is repeating the perceived mistakes of Alan Greenspan. He railed against the Greenspan critics who claimed he created the housing bubble, but who are now silent or approving of Bernanke for adopting the same loose money policies. Hypocrites! He then challenged the economist to agree with him.
In his mild academic manner, the economist explained that he’d just re-read some accounts of the Great Depression and the lessons learned from conservative economic God, Milton Friedman. He pointed out that Bernanke is doing exactly what Friedman recommended, in hindsight, should have been done to prevent the Depression. A slam dunk against Scarborough.
Scarborough continued to protest by saying, “Isn’t that the same thing that Greenspan did [which the hypocrite on the left refuse to acknowledge]?”
The economist pointed out that Greenspan’s loose money policies occurred at a time of economic growth, which inflated the bubble. Bernanke is responding to a recession that could have tipped into a depression. Double slam dunk!
Scarborough changed the subject. No concession, no rebuttal. Just changed the subject.
Grrr!