Transcription
HERE'S WHY. NOBEL PRIZE WINNING ECONOMIST PAUL KRUGMAN ADDED THE WORDS DERANGED BUM TO HIS SUBSTACK PROFILE. AFTER PROFESSOR KRUGMAN LAST APPEARED ON THIS PROGRAM LAST WEEK, DONALD TRUMP ANGRILY WROTE, "PAUL KRUGMAN OF THE NEW YORK TIMES HAS BEEN PREDICTING DOOM AND GLOOM EVER SINCE MY GREAT ELECTION SUCCESS IN 2016. IN OTHER WORDS, HE HAS BEEN WRONG FOR YEARS AS ALL MARKETS HAVE BEEN HITTING NEW HIGHS AND ARE NOW HIGHER THAN EVER BEFORE. PEOPLE STAYED OUT OF THE BEST MARKET IN HISTORY BECAUSE OF THIS. TRUMP DERANGED BUM. SUE THEM!"
PROFESSOR KRUGMAN IS BACK WITH US, AND I WANT TO JUST START WITH THE "SUE THEM" PART. HE WANTS TO SUE, I GUESS YOU AND THE NEW YORK TIMES. I THINK HE THINKS YOU STILL WORK FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES. SUE YOU FOR TALKING ABOUT ECONOMICS. THAT'S, I ASSUME, A NEW ONE FOR YOU.
YEAH. I MEAN, IT. TURNS OUT I'M NOT ALONE. HE'S NOW CALLING FOR GOLDMAN SACHS TO FIRE ITS CHIEF ECONOMIST, WHO'S A VERY GOOD GUY, HATZIUS. BUT HE DIDN'T CALL HIM A DERANGED BUM. SO I HAVE A SPECIAL HONOR THERE. AND LIKE I SAY, I'M ACTUALLY, YOU KNOW, IT IS AN HONOR. I DID PUT IT ON MY SUBSTACK PROFILE. IT'S, YOU KNOW, AND LOOK, I'VE MADE SOME BAD PREDICTIONS. IF YOU'VE NEVER MADE A BAD PREDICTION, YOU'RE NOT MAKING ENOUGH RISKS. I THINK MY TRACK RECORD OVER THE YEARS IS, YOU KNOW, IT'S OKAY. IN ANY CASE, YOU KNOW, BEING WRONG IS IF BEING WRONG WAS ILLEGAL AND GROUNDS FOR BEING SUED OF EVERY ECONOMIC OFFICIAL THAT HAS ANYTHING TO DO WITH TRUMP WOULD BE OUT ON THE STREET. RIGHT? I MEAN, THIS IS A SO IT'S GREAT. I MEAN, I WAS, YOU KNOW, IMMEDIATELY DELIGHTED TO SEE HIM CALLING ME A DERANGED BUM.
WELL.
WELCOME TO THE GROUP WHO'VE BEEN ATTACKED BY DONALD TRUMP WITH HIS UGLIEST WORDS. I ASSURE YOU, HE HAS SAID WORSE ABOUT ME. AND BUT WE MIGHT BE GETTING HIS ATTENTION AGAIN. AND THIS TIME, DONALD TRUMP HAS NOW MOVED INTO THE SPACE, AS WE WERE JUST SAYING, WHERE HE'S GOT SOMEONE WHO WANTS TO TAKE OVER THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS, WHO'S ACTIVELY SAYING, LET'S JUST STOP REPORTING ECONOMIC DATA, IN EFFECT. SO PEOPLE LIKE PAUL KRUGMAN CAN STOP TELLING US WHAT'S ACTUALLY HAPPENING IN THIS ECONOMY.
THAT'S RIGHT.
AND SO, AGAIN, THAT IS THE LAW SAYS THAT THE BLS MUST REPORT THOSE DATA. THAT'S NOT AN EXECUTIVE DECISION. THAT'S JUST THEIR LEGAL OBLIGATION. BUT YOU KNOW, IF THEY WANT TO COOK THE BOOKS, THERE'S BEEN SOMETHING WE THOUGHT ABOUT FOR A WHILE. YOU KNOW, IT'S GOING TO BE COMPLICATED. THERE'S A LOT OF PEOPLE AT BLS DOING THEIR JOBS, DEDICATED CIVIL SERVANTS, AND TO ACTUALLY CORRUPT THAT DATA. IT'S GOING TO TAKE A LOT OF WORK ON A LONG TIME. SO IT'S NOT JUST "LET'S STOP REPORTING BAD NEWS." "LET'S PUT A PAUSE ON EVERYTHING WHILE WE HAVE TIME TO FIRE OR INTIMIDATE ENOUGH PEOPLE AT THE BLS THAT WE CAN START TO PRODUCE COOK NUMBERS." THAT'S THE ONLY WAY TO INTERPRET THIS. BUT IT'S MADNESS. I MEAN, IT COULD HAPPEN. IT MAY WELL HAPPEN EVENTUALLY, BUT IT'S NOT AS IF ANYBODY'S GOING TO BELIEVE THE NUMBERS THE TRUMPIFIED BLS PRODUCES. IT'S JUST GOING TO SAY, YOU KNOW, THE WORLD'S ARGUABLY THE WORLD'S BEST ECONOMIC STATISTICS AGENCY. WE WILL JUST DESTROY IT LIKE SO MUCH ELSE THAT'S BEEN DESTROYED IN THIS ADMINISTRATION.
PRESIDENT'S RELYING ON AND SEEKING SERIOUS ADVICE FROM SERIOUS ECONOMISTS REALLY BEGAN WITH FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT DURING HIS TRANSITION BETWEEN HIS FIRST ELECTION IN 1932 AND TAKING OFFICE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WORST DEPRESSION IN 1933. AND IT HAS CONTINUED UNINTERRUPTED, WITH REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTS SEEKING THE SAME THING, WANTING TO GET SERIOUS ADVICE FROM ECONOMISTS RIGHT UP TO DONALD TRUMP, WHERE IT ALL JUST FALLS OFF A CLIFF. AND WE'VE ENTERED THIS MADNESS ZONE, AND WHERE YOU FIND YOURSELF QUOTING HANNAH ARENDT ABOUT WHAT'S REALLY GOING ON HERE.
YEAH.
REMEMBER. ECONOMICS AS AN ACADEMIC SUBJECT, ECONOMICS IS RELATIVELY CONSERVATIVE. NOT VERY, BUT THERE ARE PLENTY OF CERTAINLY CENTER-RIGHT, COMPETENT ECONOMISTS. THERE ARE ALL THESE PEOPLE WHO WHICH SHOULD BE POLITICALLY COMPATIBLE, AT LEAST WITH THE REPUBLICAN PARTY OR THE WHAT THE REPUBLICAN PARTY USED TO BE, WHO DO KNOW HOW TO DO THEIR NUMBERS. BUT TRUMP AND HIS WHOLE PARTY ACTUALLY GRAVITATE ENTIRELY TO PEOPLE WHO, YOU KNOW, ARE NOT JUST IDEOLOGUES, NOT JUST PARTISAN, BUT JUST CANNOT GET ANY NUMBERS RIGHT. AND I WROTE ABOUT THIS EVENT THAT TRUMP DID ABOUT HOW THE ECONOMY IS GREAT, WHICH WAS A PRESENTATION THAT, ASIDE FROM MISSPELLINGS ON THE CHARTS, WAS WITH STEPHEN MOORE, WHO IS NOTORIOUS. HE'S GOT A PATHOLOGICAL INABILITY TO GET A SINGLE NUMBER RIGHT WHENEVER HE ISSUES A REPORT. SO THIS IS WHO THEY PREFER. AND I THINK IT IS HANNAH ARENDT. ANYONE WHO'S COMPETENT, ANYONE WHO HAS A REAL PROFESSIONAL REPUTATION, IS A THREAT BECAUSE THEY MIGHT SAY, "NO, I WON'T DO THAT. I WON'T MAKE THAT CLAIM. I WON'T FAKE THE DATA." AND SO THEY HAVE TO GET PEOPLE WHO ARE TOTAL INCOMPETENCE.
NOBEL PRIZE WINNING ECONOMIST PAUL KRUGMAN. WE CAN ONLY HOPE THAT DONALD TRUMP AWARDS YOU ANOTHER BADGE OF HONOR FOR YOUR APPEARANCE WITH US HERE TONIGHT.