Paul Krugman: Jim Rogers Has Never Been Right About Anything And He Makes My Head Hurt

Paul Krugman won't defend Ben Bernanke much these days, but he will defend him against the ravings of Jim Rogers, who said at Oxford that the Fed chair doesn't know squat about economics.

I’ve seen Rogers in action; he seemed to me to be confused about issues like the difference between assets and liabilities. And please note that inflationistas like Rogers have been wrong about absolutely everything - this cycle (and the last cycle, and the cycle before that).

Jim Rogers Shames Oxford: 'Ben Bernanke Unfortunately Does Not Understand Economics'

Mr. Rogers is at it again, making more extravagant claims to sell books:
Bloomberg:

“Dr. Bernanke unfortunately does not understand economics, he does not understand currencies, he does not understand finance,” Rogers, 68, said in a lecture at Oxford University’s Balliol College yesterday. “All he understands is printing money.”

“His whole intellectual career has been based on the study of printing money,” he said. “Give the guy a printing press, he’s going to run it as fast as he can.”

This, at Oxford.

Rogers, who predicted the start of the global commodities rally in 1999, said investors should put money into “real” assets such as metals and agricultural products. He told students to scrap career plans for Wall Street or the City, London’s financial district, and to study agriculture and mining instead.

Rogers, who described the U.S. as the most indebted country in history, declined to comment on the performance of his own investments in commodities.

Of course Mr. Rogers has his own printing press to run, which is probably how he makes his real money:

“I’m here to sell books,” said Rogers, who lives in Singapore. “My little girls need royalties,” he added, referring to his two daughters, who are both younger than eight and were in the audience.