On Sunday's Meet the Press, host Tim Russert had a number of guests on his show to discuss oil prices, including the respected Petroleum Economist Daniel Yergin. Russert made a real buffoon of himself when he betrayed his ignorance of the basic concept of supply and demand. Here is the unbelievable exchange he had with Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman:

"MR. RUSSERT: Mr. Secretary, if, if demand is up but supply is down,      why are the profits so high?

MR. BODMAN: For that reason.

MR. RUSSERT: No, think about that.

MR. BODMAN: You know?

MR. RUSSERT: Play it out.

MR. BODMAN: Demand is up.

MR. RUSSERT: Correct.MR. BODMAN: Right?

MR. RUSSERT: Right.

MR. BODMAN: So you've got more demand, you're going to force price up. You've got, you've got limited supply, and you're going to have..."

Yes! Tim Russert you get to don the dunce cap for the day. Get in the corner.
 
And this guy gets $4.5 mil a year? It's even worse on the video because Russert is so damn sactimonious about it. And the media keeps trying to call Bush dumb. 

Recently, Ari Fleisher lamented  the idiotic questions he had to endure in the White House Press briefings. Russert must be conducting the orientation course for the NBC correspondents. 
 
Apparently Russert never even attended Father Guido Sarducci's Five Minute University ｩ. This abbreviated course of study includes Economics. Even though it awards degrees in only five minutes the Economics curriculum covers supply and demand.    
 
Perhaps he studied under the recently departed John Kenneth Galbraith, who made a career of being proven wrong while reaping accolades and livin' large misadvising less developed nations. Now that Professor Galbraith has gone to the great economics academy in the sky his ertswhile successor Jeffrey Sachs will have to carry on his legacy alone. 

See also this, this, this and this. 

Christopher J.  Alleva  5 01 06