Austan Goolsbee, Obama's head economic guy, sits up there on CNBC this morning giggling his way through a semi-serious interview with the Squawk Box crew who chuckled along with him. The tough questions were asked in a more or less straightforward manner and Goolsbee did a number of dodges worthy of Hillary Clinton. This is the kind of intellectual dishonesty that makes me cringe, and it should make you cringe as well. Goolsbee is a perfect Bobo.
If you pay enough attention to Hillary Clinton, you recognize a pattern in how she answers tough questions whose answers are embarrassing. She gives a neat clipped answer with a kind of reverse palliative and then runs right into another term. It works something like this. If you ask what time Disneyland closes, you don't get a straight answer like, 'We close at 8.' You get an answer like this: 'Disneyland is open until 8. How did you enjoy your day?' Notice that the answer was given in a kind of affirmative - that's the reverse palliative, and then a second leading question deflects consideration of the negative implications of the first answer. Clinton is especially good at stretching out the answer to the question she wasn't asked and ending it with something people can clap about. That's how Goolsbee was answering questions about Obama's windfall profits tax this morning. It was an astonishing display.
The guys at ClusterStock have a transcript:
Joe Kernen: HERE NOW OUR OLD FRIEND AUSTAN GOOLSBEE WHO IS OBAMA'S ECONOMIC ADVISER. GOOD MORNING, AUSTAN... YOU'RE GOING TO TAKE WINDFALL PROMPT PROFITS FROM THE OIL COMPANIES AND GIVE OUT $1,000 TO EACH PERSON? IS THIS YOUR IDEA?
Goolsbee: HEY, LOOK, I -- IF YOU LOOK AT THE OIL INDUSTRY, THESE GUYS ARE NOT JUST A RANDOM INDUSTRY THAT WAS ON LEVEL FOOTING WITH EVERYBODY ELSE. THESE GUYS HAVE GOTTEN TENS, EVEN HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS OF DOLLARS OF SUBSIDIES OVER THE LAST 20, 30 YEARS. SO IF YOU'RE GOING TO PUT A WINDFALL PROFIT TAX ON GUYS THAT HAVE BEEN GETTING FREE GIFTS FOR DECADES, I DON'T SEE ANY PROBLEM WITH THAT.
Kernen: FOR DECADES, THEY WEREN'T DOING NEARLY AS WELL. THEIR PROFIT MARGINS ARE RUNNING 8%, 9%. ARE YOU GOING TO GO AFTER COMPUTER COMPANIES THAT HAVE A 20% PROFIT MARGIN OR FREDDIE THAT HAD A MUCH HIGHER STAKE? WHERE DOES IT STOP?
Goolsbee: COMPUTER COMPANIES NEVER GOT BILLIONS OF SUBSIDIES FROM THE GOVERNMENT.[Our aside: If subsidies are the objection, then eliminate the subsidies. But let's be serious--they aren't.]
Kernen: DRUG COMPANIES GOT SOME SUBSIDIES. IT'S GOING TO BE WHO QUALIFIES FOR WINDFALL PROFIT -- YOU HAVE TO LOOK BACK AND SEE WHO EVER GOT SUBSIDIES --
Gollsbee: IT'S ABOUT THE OIL MARKET. IT'S NOT COMPLICATED. IT'S ABOUT OIL.
Kernen: BUT AUSTAN, IS IT WORTH THE POPULIST BOUNCE YOU GET FROM A PROPOSAL LIKE THAT, IS THAT WORTH ALIENATING ANYBODY WHO REALLY REALIZES HOW THIS WORKS? WINDFALL PROFITS JUST HURT THE PRODUCTION OF OIL AND GAS. IT DIDN'T WORK IN THE '70s. IT WON'T WORK AGAIN. YOU'RE A STRAIGHT SHOOTER --
Gollsbee: YOU'RE MIXING A COUPLE THINGS THERE. YOU'RE HUNG UP ON THE NAME. YOU SAY YOU DON'T LIKE PROFITS BEING CALLED WINDFALL.
So within a few days, I'm going figure out just the right caption for this kind of populist pandering. We already know it is condescending and disingenuous, the problem is that the proper media isn't quite in the right place to give such nonsense what for. I know the underlying threat that Kernen posed which was his polite invitation to reinvite Goolsbee up against his peers who would not let him get away with such nonsense, so I'm not too mad at CNBC. They offered him the spotlight. Still, this was pretty transparent.
I was thinking it interesting that they chose Exxon-Mobil for their example. Why not BP? Why not Shell? Well, maybe because those companies don't or didn't get US government subsidies, not being US companies. So now we're hobbling American companies who have to compete with these other oil companies who do business in America? Why would that not surprise me coming from Obama?
Here are some fact-pages regarding who's the boss of whom when it comes to oil.
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