“I don’t think [Donald] Trump knows a god damned thing about economics,” said Ben Stein, in what is probably the most succinct description of the Republican candidate’s economic policies. Stein, famous for his part role in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," as well as being a speech writer for Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, made the comments in a weekend interview with the Guardian harshly criticizing Trump’s plan to renegotiate and even walk away from the North American Free Trade Agreement and other free trade agreements. “Any interference with free trade in the long run produces negative results for the country that imposes the restrictions. One of the great breakthroughs in all of human history has been free trade,” he said in the interview. However, despite saying that Trump knows nothing about economics, Stein added that he still likes him. “I’ll vote for him, by the way. I’ll vote for him because I think he does personify a kind of national pride which I think has been lacking…” he said. “But I think his economics is way, way out of whack and he seriously needs some education about it.” Not only did Stein criticize Trump’s economic policies, which would ultimately results in trade wars, but also had some harsh words for the U.S. educational system. “I have seen a lot of elections and I have never seen anything like this. It seems to me it is a testament to the complete collapse of education that people can have such preposterous policies as an end to free trade and think that’s going to help America,” he said. “The American education system is in a state of freefall collapse so that certainly explains a lot.” With that last comment I will leave you with the one clip that helped build Stein’s Hollywood fame.
A caricature of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump courtsey of DonkeyHotey/Flickr
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