the economy. Luskin claimed that the market was healthy, and Obama was simply using the state of the economy to discredit John McCain. However, the following day, Lehman Brothers filed for the biggest bankruptcy in US history and two days later, on September 16, stock markets imploded, thus discrediting every prediction he made in his editorial. Additionally, in the same editorial, he cited evidence that the economy was weak, but not in recession. He wrote, "…anyone who says we're in a recession, or heading into one—especially the worst one since the Great Depression—is making up his own private definition of recession." Shortly afterward, following the sudden collapse of Lehman and several other large financial firms, the economy sharply worsened, and was subsequently declared to have been in recession all year by the National Bureau of Economic Research. Foreign Policy included Luskin's prediction in its list of "The 10 Worst Predictions for 2008" on its website and noted that it gave additional opportunities for liberal bloggers to criticize Luskin.<ref name=FP>The 10 Worst Predictions for 2008 , Foreign Policy, December 2008</ref> The editors of The Yale Book of Quotations'' also made note of the inopportune timing of Luskin's editorial and included his prediction in their list of "Top ten quotes of 2008". He has been singled out for "some of the worst, money losing commentary of the past few years." He has been frequently referred to by Brad DeLong as "the Stupidest Man Alive" for, among other things, his continued support for literal interpretations of the Laffer Curve. References External links Trend Macrolytics LLC – Luskin's corporate site The Conspiracy to Keep You Poor and Stupid – Luskin's blog National Review Online – column archive SmartMoney.com – column archive ClosedFund: Seeking Buyer, MetaMarkets Shuts Down Funds American financial businesspeople American libertarians Libertarian economists Living people 1954 births