Comedy Central's Jon Stewart Shows Economic Ignorance
There’s a reason they call the fake news “fake.”
At no other time was it clearer why shows like “The Daily Show” are fake news than when host Jon Stewart interviewed former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan on September 18.
Greenspan was on the “The Daily Show” to discuss his new book, “The Age of Turbulence.” However, Stewart was more interested in discussing economic fundamentals and the action of the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates by 50 basis points on September 18.
However, Stewart not only showed his liberal bias, but he also showed his ignorance of the role of the Federal Reserve in the American monetary system.
“It seems to me that we favor investment but we don't favor work,” Stewart said. “The vast majority of people work. And, they pay payroll taxes and they use banks. And then there's this whole other world of hedge funds and short betting and, you know, it seems like craps. They keep saying, no, don't worry about it. It's free market. That's why we live in much bigger houses. But it really isn't. It's the Fed or some other thing, no?”
Greenspan reply was for Stewart to read his book rather than spell out to him the role the markets play and how important what happens on Wall Street is to the “vast majority” of people – including Stewart himself, whose employer Comedy Central is part of Viacom (NYSE:VIA).
But Stewart also had a warped view of why the Fed cut rates. He suggested it was part of a class-warfare scheme designed to benefit certain people – those who don’t use banks.
“So, they've [the Federal Reserve] made a choice, we would like to favor those who invest in the stock market and not those who invest in a bank,” Stewart said.
