Ben Stein was wearing his economist’s hat on CBS Sunday Morning today. It’s a nice hat, as hats go, a grey, white and black Irish tweed with a crease down the center. It made him look a bit less nebbishy than usual, but still I was confused as to why it was there at all. Turns out, I missed his introduction and only started paying attention when he accused President Obama and his advisors “the big gumbahs”, of continued fear mongering about the economy.
In Stein’s view “If Mr. Obama and Mr. Geithner, his Treasury Secretary, and Mr. Volcker, his well-respected advisor, and some real superstars like Warren Buffett and Jack Welch all came out and said, “The recession will end within 12 months. We are sure of it,” the recession WOULD end within 12 months.”
In other words, all this bad news stuff about sub-prime loans, General Motors, Citibank, AIG, people losing their jobs and homes would all just go away if someone we believed in, like the president of the United States, would reassure us that we’re having a bad dream, that we will wake up (a year from now) and everything will be just fine…especially if we start shopping again.
What mushrooms has he been inhaling? Or maybe, being an actor when he’s not wearing his economist’s hat, he’s watching Finding Neverland. Maybe he believes that if we all clap loud enough, not only will Tinkerbell revive, but the economy will too.
For the last eight years, and who knows, probably further back than that, the public has been told what it wants to hear: that everything will be fine; just keep on spending.
Didn’t we just learn that the Bush administration didn’t include the Iraq war, emergency relief and Medicaire reimbursements in its deficit accounting? Didn’t the banks loan money to people who had no visible means of ever paying back excessive mortgages? Didn’t this attitude of ignoring reality and just hoping things would turn out okay actually put us where we find ourselves? We’re not just in hot water, we’re stewing in our own juices.
Stein feels that rather than focus on the 8% unemployed, we should focus on the 92% of the population who are employed (many of whom are terrified of losing their jobs). That’s like saying that the Great Depression wasn’t so bad because 75% of the population remained employed. Or that the deaths in Iraq weren’t so bad considering how many troops there were (unless of course, one of the casualties was your daughter or son.)
This is more than wishful thinking; it is hallucinogenic. Stein is encouraging everyone to continue as if nothing is wrong, as if our thriftless ways are okay and that further reduction of what little savings we may have will put everyone back to work and revive confidence in the market. If you believe that, surely you’ve been inhaling more than the comforting aromas of the stew below.
I’d rather Obama tell the truth than get us high on falsehoods. We’ve smoked that weed, and now we’re in the weeds, big time.
Magic Mushroom Stew
1 onion, cut into 1″ pieces
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 lbs boneless, skinless turkey or chicken thighs, cut into 1″ cubes
2-3 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup port
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 sprig fresh rosemary
1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
10 fingerling potatoes, cut into 1″ pieces
4 whole cloves garlic, peeled
2 chili de arbol, crumbled
4 cups assorted mushrooms
2 Tbsp each, finely chopped: fresh dill, parsley, basil
fresh lemon juice, to taste
- Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a heavy Dutch oven over medium heat.
- Add the onions and saute gently until translucent.
- Add the turkey pieces and cook, not browning until no longer pink.
- Add the chicken stock to just cover the meat, then the port and bring to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to a low simmer, and add half the mushrooms, all the potatoes, chilis, garlic, thyme, rosemary and nutmeg.
- Cover and cook over a very low heat for about 40 minutes.
- Remove the lid and reduce the sauce until it coats the meat with a generous sauce, about 20 minutes.
- In the meantime, heat the remaining 1 Tbsp oil in a small saute pan until smokey.
- Add the remaining mushrooms and brown on all sides, releasing their juices and cooking them down until they’re almost gone.
- Add to the simmering stew. Taste for seasoning and adjust for salt and pepper.
- Add the fresh herbs, a squeeze of lemon juice and serve.
