Jim Cramer Debunked

John Oliver says CNBC’s Jim Cramer's takes on inflation have 'not aged very well'.


On the return of Last Week Tonight With John Oliver on Sunday, Oliver called out CNBC’s Jim Cramer for doling out bad financial advice on Mad Money. Last fall, Cramer told his audience not to worry about inflation. Though Oliver called out Cramer specifically, he acknowledged that Cramer was not alone in his line of thinking.

“Most economists thought inflation would go away on its own. And some of the loudest voices on Wall Street were arguing against the Fed raising interest rates because they too thought inflation would be transitory,” Oliver said. “For instance, here is Jim Cramer — the answer to the question, what if a garbage can full of cocaine and business school pamphlets wished to be a real boy? — making that very argument in November of last year.”

Oliver then played a clip of Cramer saying, “The bottom line, I don’t think [Federal Reserve Chair Jerome] Powell needs to slam the brakes on the economy, despite what you hear from the inflationistas in the media, the weight of the evidence is finally going Powell’s way. Team transitory is going to win. I say stop freaking about inflation.”