Ben Stein's NYT column must be stopped, and must be stopped now

Felix Salmon of Conde Nast Portfolio writes Sunday that he’s flabbergasted that the New York Times continues to let economist/actor Ben Stein write a column in the Sunday newspaper.

The worst example, he said, is today’s column. Salmon wrote, “Stein, in this column, is accusing the honest and blameless Goldman economist Jan Hatzius of much more than mere intellectual dishonesty: he’s saying that Goldman and Hatzius are using economic research notes to drive down the bond market and make profits on the firm’s bearish trades. He compares their conduct to that of Henry Blodget, who was charged with securities fraud and is now banned from the securities industry for life. And he says that anyone who used to run such a shop should never have been considered for the job of Treasury secretary.

“It’s not illegal – in this country – for Stein to make such allegations. But it is quite shocking, and depressing, that the Gray Lady would willingly allow herself to be used as a vehicle for this kind of yellow journalism – and would place it on the front page of its business section, no less.

“Do I have to slowly explain why Stein’s column is in fact unmitigated garbage? Thankfully, I don’t, because Dean Baker and Yves Smith have got there before me.”

Read more here.