As a disclaimer, I need to start by saying I love The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report. I think that both shows are pure genius. Still, I think it's kind of sad that lots of Americans use these shows as their primary source for news. They're supposed to be comedy - a satirical look at the world of politics and world events. But every once in a while, the line gets blurred and The Daily Show becomes more than just "the fake news."It's been all over the Internet, but in case you don't know what I'm talking about, Jon Stewart interviewed Jim Cramer of CNBC's Mad Money last night. Over the last couple of weeks, Stewart has spent several segments of his show talking about the financial meltdown (just like everyone else on TV). He got fired up after Rick Santelli of CNBC went on a rant about Obama's desire to help struggling homeowners. This opened up the whole issue of how Wall Street works and how financial experts and business reporters can't really be objective. After all, no one simply advises on the markets without actually being invested in them personally.
Stewart has been critical of Jim Cramer because he is supposed to be an "insider" and an "expert" and he routinely (though probably not intentionally) led people astray during this past year. Weeks before Bear Stearns went under, he urged people to buy its stock. And time after time, he told his audience there was no doubt that we'd seen the bottom of the stock market.
Some people think Stewart was being unfair. After all, Cramer never claimed to be a psychic, just a financial expert. (And isn't "expert" kind of a relative term?) Stewart is able to catch him in a few lies, while at the same time, exposing some of the shadiest tactics of Wall Street trading. But, really, this whole issue is bigger than Jim Cramer and CNBC. Stewart rightly points out that our economy can't just be about trading pieces of paper. Wealth comes from work. For a nation to have true financial prosperity, it needs to produce something. People need to take something of little value and add value to it... like the way we take metal, rubber, glass, plastic, and fake wood trim and turn it into a car. Older white men swapping pieces of paper can never and will never create wealth.
Anyway, I'll let you decide. Here is the full interview (in three parts):
I give props to Jon Stewart for asking the tough questions and getting at the root of the problem. He may not know everything there is to know about how the financial services industry works, but he clearly understands when things are not working and when something's just plain wrong. "Real" reporters should take notes.
Source: "Jon Stewart's interview with Jim Cramer," The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, March 12, 2009, Comedy Central. Videos, including the complete unedited interview, are available at http://www.thedailyshow.com/.
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