One interesting outcome of the continued and persistent deterioration of the nation’s housing and mortgage markets is the eroding confidence of many formerly bullish “experts” and pundits.Some at this point, particularly the honest ones, have been able to express some marginal skepticism about the likeliness that the economy will be able to transcend the current housing dilemma unscathed.
Others, at the very least, have acknowledged that the housing story is bigger than originally anticipated.
Then there are the likes of Ben Stein.
In Sunday’s New York Times, Stein shows again that he is ready to exploit the narrowest of “reasoned” arguments in preparation of what I would consider unabashed and likely untrustworthy bullish optimism.
The truth is, the housing story has been “consistently” bigger than folks like Stein have anticipated and yet they continue to deride anyone who sees tough times ahead as “Chicken Little’s”.
Am I alone in thinking that Ben Stein’s best work occurred during episodes of “The Wonder Years” and “Rugrats”?
UPDATE: Watch the ludicrous Ben Stein actually suggest that there are NO actual losses from the subprime meltdown on BNN now!
