Stop with denying reality when it is so easy to ch

Stop with denying reality when it is so easy to check. Let's cut the shit. There are many issues that lend themselves to debate, to dispute, but what people have actually said or not said is rarely one of them

Find something to contradict Stein's easily verifiable statements or kindly STFU. You HAVE embarrassed yourself on this one, as you have on so many, many others.

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Ben Stein: 'I don't think Trump knows a goddamn thing about economics'

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/jun...mics#img-1

The Republican economist talks about the 2016 election and why he’ll still vote for Donald Trump despite this ‘preposterous’ ideas about the economy

Stein: Trump is a “nice guy” but “not a great business man”.

Jana Kasperkevic


Saturday 4 June 2016 06.00 EDT Last modified on Thursday 11 August 2016 19.48 EDT


Ben Stein, writer, economist, actor and Republican, has seen a lot of elections but none like this. “It has been an extremely strange year,” says the 71-year-old who got his start as a speechwriter for Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.

Stein has never voted for a Democrat, but he is appalled by Trump’s anti-free trade rhetoric that he says could lead to a trade war. Hillary Clinton probably has a better grasp of things, Stein thinks. Bernie Sanders, on the other hand, is “willfully ignorant”.[/b
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“I have seen a lot of elections and I have never seen anything like this. It seems to me it is a testament to the complete collapse of education that people can have such preposterous policies as an end to free trade and think that’s going to help America.

It’s just startling that: a) the candidates know so little and; b) that the voters have not been better informed about this. The American education system is in a state of freefall collapse so that certainly explains a lot,” he says.

‘Mr Trump says he can both reduce taxes and reduce the deficit. That’s complete nonsense. ’ Photograph: Charlie Neibergall/AP

What do you think the economy would look like two years into the presidency of all three remaining presidential candidates?

All the candidates are against free trade – that’s a disastrous mistake. Free trade is one of the main sources of economic growth. Any interference with free trade in the long run produces negative results for the country that imposes the restrictions. One of the great breakthroughs in all of human history has been free trade.

When I hear Mr Trump or Mrs Clinton or Mr Sanders talk about how they are going to stop free trade and in some way block America from being part of the world trading system, it makes my blood run cold. That’s a terrible, terrible prospect.

Second, it is very clear, extremely clear, that additional regulation on the economy at this point would be a burden on growth and whichever candidate imposes the most regulation is going to get the least growth. I give credit to Mr Trump, who says he is going to reduce regulation.

If Mr Sanders were president, it would be an absolute, total catastrophe. He would regulate the American economy to death.

Mrs Clinton, I think, would do a fine job. I don’t worry about her in terms of regulation at all. Except that her taxes on the fossil fuel industry are unwarranted and unwise.

In terms of tax policy, all of them say they are going to cut taxes on the poor, but that’s a fake because the American poor already pay no taxes. Approximately 50% of American wage earners don’t pay any tax already, so that’s a fake.

In terms of raising tax on the rich, frankly, I think that’s a good idea. The rich in this country are really, really rich. And they can pay more tax.

Whether that’s going to be enough to substantially affect the deficit is very, very questionable. I applaud Mr Sanders for wanting to seriously raise rates on the rich.

That is something that should happen. If he did it, there would be a lot of yelling and screaming but I don’t think the deficit would be affected very much.

Mrs Clinton, I think, has a more balanced approach. I think probably a good approach. Mr Trump says he can both reduce taxes and reduce the deficit. That’s complete nonsense.

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