"I'm a social scientist. I have a PhD. And I understand how to read statistical studies." Peter Navarro
Let me get this straight. An economist has decided that he's qualified to have a medical opinion on COVID-19 treatments. Wow. I'm impressed. The only thing better than a doctorate in social science must be a stay at a Holiday Inn Express.
Hoo boy. Where to begin? Okay, let me start by saying that I am now going to have to treat most of my friends and acquaintances with much more respect. I'd say that out of my 20 closest compadres, a dozen have PhDs in social science. I guess that now makes them medical experts. That really surprises me, as quite a few are dumbasses. And it's a shame that my late wife, who had two social science doctorates, isn't here to help with medical advice, too. At least she was a demographer and forensic anthropologist, so she'd have more sense regarding what's going on than, say, an economist.
What Peter Navarro, I'm sorry, Dr. Peter Navarro said is a howl to anybody with a doctorate not obtained from classifieds in the back of Popular Mechanics. It is just a flat-out hoot. It's the rough equivalent of claiming that your baker can fix your car because he's capable of reading Street Rods magazine. It's like your obstetrician volunteering to do your brain surgery.
I'm going to buy my social science PhD friends T-shirts that say, "I'm a social scientist. Ask ME!"
Now, here's the thing. It's possible that Navarro is oozing hubris out of his pores and actually believes his opinion should count. Hubris is undoubtedly a personal quality that the president occasionally conflates with expertise. But I don't really buy it. Navarro must know how clownish he sounds to anyone with a PhD. He cannot be that self-unaware.
So what's the deal? The obvious conclusion is that what he said is aimed directly at people without doctorates, people who wouldn't realize how out-in-left-field he sounds. That's gotta be his target audience.
So why? His schtick is (and will be going forward) to undermine the medical experts, highlighting this or that hope in bright yellow. He provides wing man cover for the president's "hunches" and "common sense," and fodder for the super-capitalists who want to relax social distancing post haste. It's a cynical public relations move, and it puts Dr. Anthony Fauci in the position of having to decide if he can do more good on the virus task force or by quitting it and getting his voice out in other ways.
Despite his howling hubris, however, there is clearly a silver lining for Dr. Peter Navarro when this is all over. He's the absolute perfect spokesman for Holiday Inn Express.
April 6, 2020
Bob Dietz
