Glenn Beck believes he's a sage of the market because he says he warned people to get out when the market was at 14,000. And so he's been ranting and raving for the past month, warning about the impending "Economic Apocalypse" headed our way, complete with cute nuclear-missile graphics.
But that doesn't mean he actually knows diddly about economics or the economy. Because he clearly doesn't.
Yesterday on his Fox News show, Beck invited on Stephen Mosher of the Population Research Institute -- a "pro-life" organization set up to "debunk" concerns about overpopulation* -- to talk about the dire economic situation and why Obama is taking us taking us down the road to economic perdition. Mosher believes Obama's policies will bring about global inflation:
Mosher: Well, first of all, I do believe we face fairly substantial inflation over the next couple of years, because we're spending beyond our means, right? We're running up the bill on the credit card, and we keep going back to the bank -- not the Bank of America, or AIG -- we own it. We go back to China and say, 'Lend us more money, lend us more money.'
Beck: OK, what does it mean, a 'substantial inflation'? We're already, uh, we're already in inflation. What does substantial inflation mean to you?
Um, hate to tell you guys this, but deflation, not inflation, is the dire economic problem we currently face. The problem is global: in the U.S., in Europe, and China too. The only reportage on inflation to be found these days is about how it's been flat -- nearly nonexistent -- for a record period of time, which is why everyone's so worried.
Not that anyone in their right financial mind would take economic advice from either of these characters. The same could be said for Beck's political advice. And anyone who watches Fox News deserves what they get anyway.
___
*Their own blurb reads: "Founded in 1989, the Population Research Institute is a non-profit research and educational organization dedicated to objectively presenting the truth about population-related issues, and to reversing the trends brought about by the myth of overpopulation. Our growing, global network of pro-life groups spans over 30 countries."
