Ben Stein Says Digging and Filling Holes Not the Solution

Posted by Lloyd Silver on Mon, May 4, 2009 @ 11:48 AM

Ben Stein spoke at last night’s dinner at the annual meeting of the Association for Advanced Life Underwriters. In addition to adding his unique brand of humor to the event, Stein spoke a bit on the current economic crisis.

“Paying people to dig holes and then fill them up again is not going  to turn the economy around,” said Stein. The actor, professor, writer, and former speechwriter of Nixon and Ford had some very strong thoughts on what got us here and the key to economic recovery. He pointed to the conscious decision of the U.S. Government’s to allow Lehman Brothers to fail as the catalyst for the credit crunch and recession. The key to turning things around, according to Stein, is simple. “Get commercial credit going again.” The economic stimulus package has done and will do very little until there is a renewed flow of money.

Stein was very complimentary of life insurance professionals commenting on how his father’s life insurance policy was quite helpful and how confident he is in the many insurance companies with whom he now has coverage. He holds life insurance agents in high regards as professionals who only get paid when they go out and help people. Stein also made a point to say that in the history of the life insurance industry, there hasn’t been a single claim not paid by a major insurer because of financial reasons (e.g. the company going bankrupt or experiencing some other financial catastrophe).