OPINION
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Money Guru: None of Us Really Knows What to Do
Pundits should hedge their bets and speak with caution
By Wesley Oliver
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Posted Mar 1, 09 2:45 PM CST
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(Newser)
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Financial pundits don’t know everything, and don't trust those who act like they do, Joel Lovell writes in the Washington Post. The GQ money expert acknowledges anxiety over dispensing information that may not be true at all. “It makes me feel like a bit of a fraud,” Lovell confesses. How should Americans spend their money? “Beats me,” he says.
And neither does anyone else, Lovell notes, but that hasn’t stopped loudmouths like Jim Cramer and the “somewhat frighteningly undaunted” Suze Orman from pontificating with “disconcerting” conviction. “Their confidence saps my own,” Lovell says. The desire for self-help guidance is distinctly American, but Lovell has learned his lesson: “The advice I trust the most now comes wrapped in doubt.”