For four years the media and other Democrats gaslighted the public about how great the Biden economic policies were. But six months into Trump’s term, the media is trashing Trump’s policies in order to influence, not inform, the voters. And, like clockwork, they trot out Mark Zandi, who they pretend is independent, but is really a Democrat hack. Whenever the media and other Democrats want an economist to support their policies and trash Republican (Trump) policies, out comes Zandi.

Here he is in The Hill saying we are on the precipice of a recession. I guess the deep depression warnings of April the Democrats and media promised didn’t come true, so out he comes again, just like a groundhog, with new warnings:

US economy on ‘precipice of recession,’ Moody’s chief economist warns

• Consumer spending flat; construction, manufacturing contracting, he says
• Zandi blames tariffs, immigration policy for economic struggles
• Low jobless rate masks shrinking workforce, hiring freezes

Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi said the U.S. economy is ‘on the precipice of recession,’ citing indicators from last week’s economic data releases.

The article is everywhere. Not to be outdone, Fox News calls him a leading economist and says the Federal Reserve has few options to save us from financial crisis. Maybe they should lower interest rates? I have to wonder how many times an economist has to be wrong before the media stops considering them to be a leading economist?

Leading economist issues stark recession warning for struggling US economy

Mark Zandi cites weak jobs data and rising inflation as Fed faces limited rescue options[.]

In 2007, Moody’s (Zandi), S & P, and Fitch were earning huge fees by rating junk mortgage pools as Triple A. This allowed brokers, bankers, Freddie and Fannie, to package up trillion dollars worth of garbage to sell to individuals, banks, and mutual funds. This was pure fraud that almost destroyed the U.S. and world economy, and yet these people did not go to jail. The taxpayer bailed them out. 

Yet today Zandi and others are still treated as respectable ratings agents. 

In 2016, as Zandi was campaigning for Hillary, he continually predicted a huge recession if Trump were elected and his policies took effect. He was 100% wrong, yet somehow he is still a leading economist:

Economists savage Trump’s economic agenda

‘There is a good reason many people are upset and angry, because for many it’s been a very rough decade,’ said Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Analytics and an adviser to John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign. ‘But if Trump’s policies were enacted it would be some form of disaster for the economy. If you force 11 million undocumented immigrants to leave in a year, you would be looking at a depression. It would not help the people he is talking to, they would be the first to go down.’

Also, here:

Trump’s Economic Plan Would Be a Disaster for the US Economy: Moody’s

A detailed analysis by a team led by Moody’s chief economist Mark Zandi found that the Trump economic plan would be disastrous for the U.S. economy, leading to a prolonged recession and causing slower growth, higher unemployment and declining asset values.

And, here:

Opinion: ‘Too nice’ economist says Donald Trump would kill 3.5 million jobs

I’ve known Mark Zandi a long time — 25 years — and I’ve known almost that long that he’s smart, reasonably apolitical, and a winning combination of calm and kind. He’s how you’d want to stay if you and a school friend started a company and built one of the biggest economics consultancies on Earth. 

In 2021, Biden inherited a booming economy from Trump with jobs growing at over 1.5 million per month the last eight months of 2020, and inflation below 2%, but Zandi supported the Democrat policy to borrow and print $2 trillion more handouts, downplaying the inflation potential:

Yes, Mark Zandi of Moody’s Analytics supported the 2021 American Rescue Plan (ARP), stating that it was instrumental in averting a double-digit recession and speeding up the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2022, Zandi supported the green slush fund that was improperly named the Inflation Reduction Act by pretending it would lower costs:

RELEASE: Zandi, Blinder, and Clausing Speak on the Economic Benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act

Dr. Zandi spoke about the ways the legislation will lower costs:

If you’re a senior and you buy prescription drugs, this is a big deal. If you’re a low-income household that receives health insurance through the Affordable Care Act, this is a big deal. And ultimately, in the longer run, this is going to be a bigger deal for all of us, because in my mind the most significant aspect of the legislation is the provisions around climate change, and those play out over a long period of time . . . If you do the arithmetic here, this is a very significant piece of legislation that will ultimately reduce energy costs for everybody. So, I do think it’s a very, very important piece of legislation. 

In 2010, a think tank wrote an excellent piece about Zandi’s terrible record and how the Democrats use him.

The Abysmal Track Record of Moody’s Mark Zandi

The Fed, Treasury and the Senate Budget Committee appear to have a favorite private sector economist, one who has managed to become a favorite even though he works for a unit of the same rating agency whose analysis is intrinsically tied to both the market, banking and housing crisis.

Mark Zandi of Moody’s Economy.com is routinely trotted out as an independent expert.

But the media still treats him as an infallible expert, especially when he is trashing Trump.

The NY Times recently wrote a piece crying for economists, claiming that it is an ominous sign for the economy that there are fewer jobs for these financial “experts.” Maybe companies determined these “experts” weren’t so accurate with their forecasts, realizing they were overhead waste instead of assets. 

The over 400 PhDs at the Federal Reserve, and it doesn’t seem to be very productive or accurate.

I will say that economists’ predictions are just as accurate as the green pushers’ dire predictions.

Image from Grok.