Kerby Anderson

Columnist John Fund warns us that “Open Letters from Experts Are Often Fact-Free Propaganda.” We talked about his column in a recent roundtable discussion on radio to encourage listeners to use discernment and be skeptical of such devices.

The occasion for his column was the question of whether the president could fire a sitting member of the Federal Reserve who was accused of committing mortgage fraud. He argues that this shouldn’t be that controversial. But he pointed to an “open letter” signed by academics who stated that she should stay on the job.

He mentions a study done by two economists that detailed the dismal record of fact-free open letters. For example, these experts predicted that the federal student loan program would make money for the government, that Obamacare would dramatically reduce health care costs, and that redistribution and using more costly energy sources would increase economic growth.

Last year several Nobel Prize winners endorsed the tax and spend proposals by Kamala Harris over the plan for Donald Trump. He concludes, “Such letters are often theatrical versions of political position papers rather than any attempt to educate the public. That’s no surprise, because they often come from highly liberal, tenured professors who, shocker alert, oppose all conservative policies.”

Although he was merely focusing on open letters about economics, we don’t want to forget the 51 former intelligence officials who signed a public letter suggesting that the New York Post's story about Hunter Biden's laptop had the “classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.” We know that was wrong.

The lesson is clear: we all should be skeptical when reading these open letters since many of them are indeed fact-free propaganda.