LIBERADIO(!)

No one yet has satisfactorily answered the question, why do all high-profile economists have beards? I know they’re hiding something under those whiskers. I just know it. There’s the nobel prize-winning Dr. Beardy. And Beardy, Jr.. And friend of the show, Dean Beardy. One of these days I’ll get to the bottom of all that facial hair but in the meantime, I’d be satisfied with simply hearing what these men have to say about our economy.

Too bad for me, because it seems that the beards are also keeping the fiscally erudite off the TV.

Maybe they can’t quite get the lighting right, but according to a new report by Media Matters for America economists have made scant appearances on television to talk about the economic recovery plan. Studying the Sunday talk shows as well as 12 cable news programs from January 25 through February 8, MMFA found that:

During 139 1/2 hours of programming in which the economic recovery legislation was discussed, economists made 25 guest appearances out of a total of 460 — only 5 percent.

There’s no doubt that opinion, whether follicly-gifted or not, has its place. But a healthier balance of ideologically-driven opinion and learned opinion would better serve the public’s interest. If you’re going to flood your congressperson’s office with calls, shouldn’t they be about something more than a manufactured story about the forbidden love of a house speaker and a harvest mouse?