Ben Stein's One Good Point

Posted by , Dec 03, 2007 10:23AM

I agree. The Vatican can sell hope and fear a lot better than Goldman.

Posted by NotNasser, Dec 03, 2007 10:31AM

"you have to go around Robin Hood's barn"?

That's a strange expression? Does anyone want to decode Stein for me there?

Posted by , Dec 03, 2007 10:33AM

"tires, balls, charities, balloons"

Posted by ben stein is a genius, Dec 03, 2007 10:38AM

"Goldman Sachs:...it’s not the Vatican."

Posted by Anonymous, Dec 03, 2007 11:07AM

Reference to Robin Hood, the legendary outlaw, whose barn was simply the fields and pastures surrounding Sherwood forest, his home. “Around Robin Hood’s barn” simply means all around the countryside, all through the fields and pastures.

Posted by NotNasser, Dec 03, 2007 11:48AM

11:07, thanks.

I had never heard it. Something of an Anglicism? Anyway, when I encountered Stein's use of the expression, it brought me up short, because the "legendary outlaw" in question is sometimes invoked as an example of redistribution of wealth, but it wasn't clear whether that connotation of the phrase has any real significance here.

Posted by The Nut Case Liberal Basher, Dec 03, 2007 12:30PM

Robin Hood was clearly a "liberal" and early advocate of communism. He associated with Middle Eastern terrorists and insurgents. I just have to laugh at the liberals! "Robin = robbing" and "Hood" = criminal". Do the liberals think they are smarter than us? They shouldn't play dumb with us as we invented THAT game, brother!!

Posted by , Dec 03, 2007 1:10PM

I may be dense but I can never figger out why Ben Stein has a column in a major newspaper.

Posted by Anal_yst, Dec 03, 2007 1:21PM

ya know for a rich jew, Stein is awfully harsh on Goldman. Jealous much Ben?

Posted by , Dec 03, 2007 2:09PM

@1:10,

Maybe because he is a liberal economic guru of sorts?? I dont know. And plus it is the NYT. Have you ever read anything Krugman writes in NYT (which somehow is fundamentally opposed to everything he writes in academic circles)??

Posted by Matt, Dec 03, 2007 2:32PM

@2:09

Dude, I wish that were true but unfortunately he claims that he is not. Go figure!

Agree with the point on Krugman though. Major hypocrite.

Posted by NotNasser, Dec 03, 2007 4:16PM

Sorry, nutcase, but you're wrong about the hood.

Yes, as I noted, RH is often invoked as if he was acting like a modern day progressive income-tax. But the comparison is unfair to him.

After all, whence came whatever money the merry men stole from nobles travelling through the forest? It came from taxes. It came from the sweaty backs of the peasantry.

Hood was, in effect, stealing FROM the IRS and giving the money back to the taxpayers.

Posted by Laura, Dec 03, 2007 5:13PM

On an aside, Stein criticized Hatzius for "his hypothesis that home prices would fall an average of 15 percent nationwide." I don't know where Stein lives (I'm guessing in a nicer neighborhood than mine) but I've already seen prices in my middle class NJ neighborhood drop by that much. I can't imagine what parts of FL, MI and NV are going to see. I don't know why Stein thinks that Hatzius is so off base with this.