Why is PBS giving Economic Cranks a Forum?

Yesterday while watching Newshour I came across an interview of Chris Martenson by  Paul Solmon.  I had never heard of Martenson before yesterday. Martenson who has a PhD in neurotoxicology and an MBA has taken two apocalyptic strands of economic thinking from the left and the right  and woven them into a rich tapestry of frightening doomsday predictions which has gained him a devoted fan following. Martenson  worries about resource depletion, especially petroleum and runaway inflation. His solution; investing in precious metals,  living off the grid and raising one’s  food.   Like those predicting rapture Martenson has been predicting runaway inflation for a while now, if it hasn’t happened yet its just around the corner. He will tell you how  to avoid being processed for food when the economic apocalypse arrives.  Just buy his DVDs or subscribe to his newsletter, and don’t worry, you don’t have to pay him in gold bars he will gladly accept your worthless dollars out of the goodness of his heart.

Note: Despite what many deficits and debt  scolds have been saying the current levels of debt as compared to GDP are not the highest this country has seen. The debt/GDP ratio peaked just after the WWII and was the  precursor to an era of unprecedented economic growth.