I’ve listened to Sachs for decades. He’s been wrong about virtually everything, but he sure seems to crave attention. American history is full of inconsequential pundits of which Sachs is one more. His unhinged emotional rants in this interview do not meet the standards that subscribers expect from Racket. Is Emily next going to interview Meaghan Markle, or perhaps the new Ayatollah Jr.?
Honestly, that was a tough read. All Sachs did was basically defend Iran by bashing Trump & Bessent. I would not personally qualify Sachs as an intelligent interviewee with any deep insight. Way to much name calling. I bet Obama loves him though.
Sachs, to put it clearly, is full of s**t. He has the nerve to keep referencing that the Omani's statement, of reaching a good point in the talks, as though that is meaningful. Sure, because Iran is such a stellar history of acting according to their promises. Give us a break. His hero, Obama, used that "logic", and I guess if you overlook the continued pursuit of nuclear weapons, state sponsored terrorism and the call for death to Israel and Americans, the "logic" worked. It didn't work for us, but it certainly worked for Iran. I don't know if the current action will work either, but Sach's commentary is every bit as delusional as his characterization of Trump.
Except that Kopp didn’t follow Sachs down the conspiracy rathole all the way to his deranged claim that Covid-19 leaked from an American lab instead of a Chinese one.
I was going to say, “Tucker, move over.” But “Candace, move over” seems more appropriate!
Sachs’ TDS is so severe, he doesn’t even see that howling abuse at Trump, and calling Scott Bessant a “thug”, is no way to persuade them to change course.
Sorry Matt or whoever is in charge of Racket, but I couldn’t get more than 20 minutes into this one. Sachs had some good comments and insights on Russia/Ukraine, but he’s out of his lane on this one. “International law” “UN charter” LOL. Even Big Top Carney realizes the New World Order is dead.
Sachs may have made some valid points in the interview, but so much of his invective does indeed sound unhinged and hyperemotional. For that reason he fails at persuasion.
I think you have the best comment on this. I see several of Sachs's statements that I agree with and quite a few more I disagree with, but he's so strident and obnoxious that he polarizes me to the opposite extreme of whatever he happens to be saying at the moment.
In addition to his unhinged rants against Trump and Bessent, blaming them for the attack on Iran, he also says the CIA has been controlling our foreign policy since JFK's assassination (that may be true!). My question for Sachs is - which is it?
I lost interest when he talked about the oil shocks of the 70's. Back when Dad's Ford was getting 7 mpg. have real concerns of what is going on and the risks inherent but when I see the same old tripe and assumptions its not worth the read.
Yeah the oil shock prediction was a itself fairly shocking for an Ivy League economist.
"The United States was a net importer of oil in 1973. By that year, domestic oil production had peaked (around 1970) and could not meet rising demand, forcing the U.S. to import over a third of its oil, making it heavily dependent on foreign suppliers. This reliance led directly to the 1973 oil crisis"
"The United States is currently a net exporter of total petroleum, a status it has maintained annually since 2020. However, it remains a net importer of crude oil. (In 2025, U.S. petroleum exports totaled approximately 10.7 million barrels per day (b/d), while imports were roughly 7.9 million b/d. The U.S. continues to import more raw crude oil than it exports to meet the specific requirements of domestic refineries, many of which are configured for heavier foreign crude. Net crude oil imports decreased from 2.5 million b/d in 2024 to 2.2 million b/d in 2025.)"
I hadn't heard that, I was barely sentient (well, sentient, but just starting to be aware of headline news) at the time of the revolution.
"The Shah of Iran played a central, paradoxical role in the 1970s oil shocks by initially driving up prices in 1973, followed by his regime's collapse in 1978-1979 causing the second, more severe, global oil supply crisis."
Quotes are AI generated. I find AI is usually good at providing a consensus narrative. I'm guilty of not always digging deeper if it confirms my bias (what I thought I knew).
He's clearly knowledgeable and has been articulate in other contexts. But I don't listen to James Carville, either, despite his unique perspective. The ranting / personal history ratio is inverted. Whatever either of them could contribute (arguably significant) is smothered in the crib with the TDS pillow.
"So anyone who is antiwar hates Jewish people?" I never said any such thing.
"That sounds like antisemitism." I do appreciate this semantic jujitsu, though of course the charge is silly.
I was responding to some deranged comment about Israel planning to nuke Iran and how they control our govt and military, which reeks of the ancient blood libel about nefarious Jews having secret control of the world.
Sorry, but Jeffrey Sachs can't be dismissed that easily.
He's been right on many things. He had much to do with stabilizing the economies of Eastern Europe after 1989 -- to the point they function better than Western Europe. And he wanted to do the same for Russia, but was prevented by the Clinton Administration.
Disagree with him if you want. But he's no Paul Krugman.
I've watched and read many of his interviews including his attempt to get money for Russia. One video was him dissing Trump two weeks after his 2017 inauguration. Mr. Sustainable Development’s comments about Trump were just as vile as in this interview.
He is good at memorizing dates and people on events that show the USG for what has been since WWII. I cannot remember if he had scathing words for Obama and his coups in the ME and specifically the overthrow of Ukraine ensuring a war with Russia. Did he ever comment on money O flew to Iran? Did he ever talk about why that money was Iran's but in the USG's hands?
It's irresponsible and irrelevant that an economist transitioning Marxist economies to successful capitalist economies would not be a career high point?
The farther Sachs gets from his expertise the less I like him. He the world a service in Eastern Europe, but I'm not sure he's got the same chops outside his field.
I think Emily was predisposed toward Sachs. I noticed even in her introduction the jab that “Team Trump had promised an end to forever wars” and I thought, man, it’s premature to be whining about forever wars after a week and a half. Isn’t it?
There was a time when I thought Matt would give us a more even-handed piece. But I feel like either I’m wrong or in recent weeks his hand has been off the tiller.
I agree with you totally and again a predisposition or opinion is not supposed to enter into the equation, a least not here in my opinion. The reason I signed up was my faith in Matt following the truth wherever it might lead. Not to subscribe to a service that platforms biased opinions
Ditto. "Jeffrey Sachs: It’s not responsible for so many atrocities, first of all. It doesn’t want nuclear weapons, and it signed an agreement to have strict supervision over its nuclear program with the International Atomic Energy Agency." Getting foreign policy right means looking at different views, but when it's foolish, we have to call it foolish. Sachs is eloquent, but he takes foolish to an exceptional level.
I think Sachs may suffer the conceit of believing his notion of how people act is applicable across the world and across cultures and worldviews. His "correctness" was apparently confirmed in the post-USSR breakup in Eastern Europe and his success in helping those former satellite nations establish economies. Thus he thinks that what the Iranian Mullahs say can be taken at face value and they will act consistent with how he thinks Westerners act (even ir they are easterner orthodox folks). Sachs seems ignorant of the concept of Taqiyya.
“Meaghan Markle”. Perfect. I was thinking maybe Kanye.
By the way, what is Jeffery Sach’s score on the Shill o Meter?
For that matter, what is Kopp’s score?
Let’s see, what would a journo do?
Maybe ask Sachs about all the time he has spent in China? How much of his income originates with the CCP and perhaps the Russian Kleptocracy.
Oh yeah, and Kopp should say “wow” more often.
What are Sach’s qualifications for diagnosing Trump as a psychopath?
Did he arrive at his conclusion by watching Trump press conferences?
Can Sach name any single member of the so called deep state besides James Angleton?
If the U.S. took their case to the UN Security Council, as Sachs prescribes, does he imagine that China who buys 13% of their oil at deep discount, from Iran, or Russia who relies on Iran for war drones, or maybe even the UK and France, increasingly swayed by growing domestic Moslem populations, might veto the resolution? What a joke proposal. And zero pushback.
A lot of Americans don’t agree with every Trump action and they sure as hell don’t like all the braggadocio.
But would it be too much to expect a journo to at least list Iran’s evil activities for the past quarter century? Provide just a tad of context? “Wow”, apparently it is.
If you want to hate and trash the United States and Israel, you’ll have no shortage of friends, but doing so outside the context of every other nation’s dark side is a bit dishonest don’t you think?
Sea - You didn't see Kopp's own biases? Late in the article she essentially put herself in the mission to end gain of function. Not to report on it, not to ask and press for where Bhattacharya is on. his promise to ban it, but to announce banning is her personal mission. I agree it needs to be banned. But write articles and publish on why it is important and why isn't it done.
I sense Racket 2.0 is going, intentionally or implicitly, in the direction of Taibbi's old line biases: Bard grad, Sanders supporter (why and how he ever was that way is a mystery, at lest to me), "peacenik" attitude. I have this sneaking suspicion that the split with Walter (which Taibbi has frequently stated was Walter's choice) has something to do with Walter's seeming acceptance of Trump World and Matt starting to recoil.
I think Kopp is starting to grow on me, but I have more than a tad of raised eyebrow about her supra editorial stance. That is, inserting her opinion and biases. Time will tell.
I read Sachs' first volley and that was enough for me. It was immediately apparent where his head is at, and that is in a very dark and smelly place.
To mention the 70's oil shocks from first the Yom Kippur war then the Iranian "revolution" and implying a parallel would occur in the U.S. today without even acknowledging (or perhaps he does eventually, I didn't care enough to read) how the entire West was painfully dependent upon Middle East oil at the time, compared to today where we are a net exporter, belies any perspective.
The nation which stands to lose the most in a constrained M.E. oil supply is China. Few in the West are crying for them.
As for the "starting new forever wars" shibboleth, Iran has been at war with the U.S. for 47 years. Countless American lives have been taken with barely zero retaliation, with perhaps the exception of fighting the IRGC and their proxies in Iraq. Which of course only emboldened the savage regime. Six Presidents sat back and did nothing, though I'll cut Reagan some slack as he was singularly fixated on the Soviet Union and containing worldwide communism. If only he could have foreseen that radical Islam would replace it as the world's most murderous ideology.
If the thought of the Ayatollah armed with nuclear ballistic missiles doesn't scare TF out of you, you are not paying attention. What is being done is what needs to be done, and should have been done long ago. Let us pray for a swift but decisive end.
Oh, Matt!! How did you end up with all of these war-loving nuts on this site?????? Will you please address this? Thank you, Emily, for interviewing Jeffrey Sachs, one of my favorite for decades.
Tens of thousands of Iranians have been tortured and killed, other tens of thousands of Iranian women have been raped, tortured and killed. They of course mean nothing to you. Iran has fomented wars in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Gaza and Yemen, costing many thousands of lives. They of course mean nothing to you. Iran has assassinated or sought to assassinate hundreds of regime opponents worldwide. Grace, you don’t care about them either do you? They vow to obliterate the U.S. None of this happened before the Islamic Revolutio
“War loving nut?” Given the aforementioned, Yes. Where do you stand?
Did Sachs whine when Biden gave Russia the greenlight to invade Ukraine?
Irans economy appears to be somewhat similar to North Korea- building drones for Russia, their tomahawk missiles that they’ve been shooting at neighbors over the past couple of weeks, while killing tens of thousands of its own citizens the past couple of months.
Sachs is always wrong but never uncertain. But ok. He has a point of view. As to Emily Kopp, the test will be who she interviews next. If she talks to someone with a more well rounded and thorough knowledge of the ME and specifically Iran, all will be forgiven. Or even someone off the deep end but from the other end of the spectrum. I'm worried she's going to go full Tucker and just be "asking questions" to one prejudiced academic or expert after another.
Agreed, unfortunately. I too have watched Sachs for years. He's falling apart in this interview and effectively crashed through every barrier of moderation and restraint we might expect from a self-described intellectual expert. His arm-chair psycho-analysis and desire to demonize the current administration well beyond any reasonable critique is something I'd expect from a five-year old. Might be his worst ever performance. The transcript is painful enough. Glad I didn't watch.
That said. Sachs is a get and Emily's concluding paragraph makes begins with a clear statement that she doesn't agree with all of Sachs' positions. The age gap didn't help.
Emily has my full support, btw, as do all the Racket staff Matt's "surprise" management style hasn't made their start any easier.
The big surprise Matt should have announced was that he was giving Walter with a big, fat 100k bonus check for all he brings to the site (maybe he did!). However, Walter explicitly noted that he was paid a "pittance" for years of making Racket better - which isn't the way most of us describe being fairly compensated.
Moreover, Walter has been in the business longer than Matt, publishes his own paper and would have known exactly what his contributions here did for years improving/maintaining Matt's bottom line. His reward? SFA - and great reason to move to a place where his contributions are actually recognized in ways all creative folks understand.
Emily and the staff have been dealt a tough hand. If she rights the ship, she'll deserve a lot of credit and more than Matt's thank you. If the Racket staff are reading these comments I hope they pass on my best wishes and support to Emily.
He has claimed many times that Iran doesn’t want a nuclear weapon yet all evidence is to the contrary and if Iran didn’t want to have one they sure aren’t acting like that.
what evidence? The former Ayotollah had preached against the development of nuclear weapons for decades and the IAEA inspectors have never found evidence of a nuclear weapon in Iran. You can say at best that Iran has the capability to make one but we have no idea how long that would take. The Omani's were also absolutely correct in reporting that the Iranians had capitulated to every demand of the US government negotiators. They just want the sanctions lifted and to retain their sovereignty. Feel free to find some evidence and prove me wrong but Netanyahu has been making the claim that Iran was developing a nuclear weapon for 40 years and evidence has never been presented.
There is only one thing that I believe. No one is telling the truth everyone is lying So if Iran doesn’t want the nuclear weapon why did they do all the building their nuclear sites deep underground? The whole Middle East culture is built upon lying so there is nothing you can trust from anyone including your mother.
The IAEA reported that Iran had enriched uranium to 60% (about two weeks from a weapon if no big glitches) and refused to allow inspections agreed upon. In Farsi, Khamenei made it clear that the annihilation of the Little and Big Satans were specific goals. Do you want to wait for a checkered flag?
Actually, I think you need to provide evidence for this statement: "The Omani's were also absolutely correct in reporting that the Iranians had capitulated to every demand of the US government negotiators."
That is not a simple disagreement, it is fundamental,. If true and if this Administration ignored it, that would, for the first time, be impeachable material. I rather doubt the Senate and House would have voted the way they idid if that were true.
Trumps own director of national intelligence disagrees with you. She said Iran is not pursuing nuclear weapons under sworn oath of under penalty of perjury.
All you people ignore this in favor of Israeli propaganda. Gee, wonder why.
Yes, I knew that once Walter left Racket would turn to the Israel/Jew hatred which Matt was having a hard time avoiding. Sachs is a tool of the CCP which is what this war is really about. Not US or Israeli domination of the MIddle East but keeping the balance from tilting towards China. But you know, we Jews are really good at ruling the world. All 15 million of us.
I already did. I have the annual sub which I already paid for in November but I removed the renewal. The whole reason I signed up for Racket was bc I loved the dynamic between Walter and Matt.
I loved that Walter was like me, an ex-progressive/socialist that became MAGA. And I liked that Matt would disagree with him and make Walter explain his views.
Plus, Walter’s vision in looking at everything as a narrative was super helpful. He definitely made interesting points about the shadows on the cave. His analysis was unique amongst all pundits. I really miss it.
And their book club was excellent. Reminded me of being in literature class again.
Truly sad to see all these things end.
I really like Bridget Phetasy who’s a writer/comedian that is also ex-lefty gone MAGA. There’s very few like that in the influencer sphere and I’m sad that she’s now the only one after Racket changed.
Agree, I was also a huge fan of the Walter Matt discussions. I find few people interested in deep dives these days - I now live far from my remaining fellow discussers or they're dead (I'm old) so they fed me what I needed. Homeless now but will continue and give Matt a chance to see what he can build.
ATW was unique in our current world. Start with the fact that you have two extremely educated, articulate and erudite speakers. They are both somewhat younger than me but still speak in terms and of things with which I can relate versus the current Newspeak. Add to that the respectful tension between the two. I really like Matt personally, or as personally as one can given we’ve never met. I like his classic liberal values even though he is to my left. But what I really enjoyed was Walter forcing him to realize that the cherished world in which he once lived is long dead and gone. I can see it in Matt’s eyes and face when he is trying to view the subject at hand through the lens of his past world but just can’t.
I was very much looking forward to how Matt would handle having the scales fall from his eyes. Doesn’t look like it’s going to happen now.
Sorry but Matt is not an articulate speaker...very difficult to listen to...I always want to just goose him to see if he can spit it out in a coherent sentence.
Commenters complain that Walt cut Matt off; I thought he was filling in the void. However, Matt was doing double duty controlling screen feeds.
I have never been a liberal or today’s Marxist, but I think Matt was a little old for a Bernie enthusiast. Perhaps his years in Russia, more than Bernie did, or his caring and kind ethos had something to do with it. As a conservative constantly at odds with the GOP, I quickly genuflected when O made the seen. I’m not a spread the wealth or hope and change (whatever that was) admirer. At least I never had to wake up one day to a party I no longer recognized for what it was!
Thankfully Matt got that far, because many of my friends and a few family members never have, probably because their TVs are tuned to alphabet news channels and they are incapable of detecting conditioning and propaganda. Last time I watch any of those news shows was 1985.
I do miss Walter's take on the story behind the news- what is the narrative in all of this? There is a lot of messaging going on and it would be very helpful right now to have someone interpret.
It reminds me when my parents used to use the military alphabet to talk in front of my brother and me when we were little - we called it "language" and we knew they were talking about something they either didn't want us to know, or about us. We would throw out words (Sierra! Echo!) as wild guesses - the reality was we couldn't really spell yet. But we knew something was being said - we just didn't know what. I think a lot of what we see right now is just an advanced version of that.
Great point. The invective thrown Matt's way since the changes seems to be mostly centered on readers not being stroked enough on their pet issues.
And for how long have commenters been taking Racket to task for not enough Israel/Gaza discussion? Ok, here's some. But it's the wrong flavor for some!
Two things. One is. When do we even see content from Matt anymore. Secondly Sachs has the same NYTimes account of reality. I’m all for giving alternative views of platform, but ask some hard questions. It reminds me of Tucker interviewing Fuentes and never bringing up some of his obviously crazy comments and making him explain them.
Sorry but he is the age of my sons....His viewpoint is colored by that stage of thinking...I was there once....I understand the stages of thinking...and, it is real...
I fear Trump may have had his manhood questioned by Netanyahu, and as a result, made a large blunder. Months or years from now, when we are hundreds of billions poorer and have a few hundred fewer live military people, the clerics will still be in charge, though hundreds, if not thousands of jihadists will have been “caused.”
Iran is 3X the size of Iraq, it’s richer than Iraq, and it is absolute folly to believe this will bring the change we desire in Iran.
It's not that people want their world view reinforced. Walter just plain has more real world experience and has lived through more history. Matt is the same age group as my sons. Sorry....no comparison in experience between Matt and Walter. It's hard to find the correct words to describe how Matt comes across but it sort of fits what my mother would say to me when I was much younger (and I hated it and misunderstood what she was saying)...to wit, "you'll see things differently when you get a little older." And yes, there are stages in thought process colored by experience, and the quality of those experiences.
Even when you say something kind of true, it's laden with falsehood and misunderstanding. Original-flavor wokeness popularized contemporary Jew hatred, often thinly veiled as opposition to Israel and Zionism, because (a) Jews practice meritocracy and capitalism all the way to proving every economic and cultural Marxist dictate wrong; (b) Jews tend to be successful—even the admittedly very backward Hasidim—and therefore resented by the do-nothing, know-nothing castaways who've turned to Marxist grievances for excuses; and (c) Jews are historically and religiously hated by a lot of stone-age brown people, and the left has suicidal-grade empathy for anyone who isn't white or first-world.
Those on the right who hate Jews do so because they've been screwed over for decades by Marxists and globalists, whom they very ignorantly mistake for Jews at large. It starts out rational, because they really are victims with serious grievances, and then it goes somewhere very irrational because, thanks to the left, Jews and Israel are low-hanging fruit.
Calling someone Israel-first because they're willing to support military actions by Israel against Israel's militant enemies is a bright blinking sign of your own Jew hatred, and it isn't the first.
Calling somebody Israel-first has nothing to do with Jew hatred, for any reason, as that conflates Jewishness itself with Israel. I could be criticizing Pete alcoholic Hegseth and you’d consider that Jew-hatred if I called him Israel-first for launching this war.
But I’m also not going to ignore the fact of a gigantic and powerful Jewish lobby that absolutely puts Israeli interests over American interests. But they are the ones conflating Israel itself with all Jews. I can’t help it if the country that’s causing problems for my nation is the Jewish state. I didn’t decide to call them that, they did. This war is not in American interests. It’s in Israeli interests.
That view in and of itself has nothing to do with “Jew-hate.”
care to provide any examples of anyone on Racket engaging in "Jew hatred" or is disagreeing with an aggressive war now tantamount to anti semitism? I am also Jewish. People like yourself do not speak for all 15 million of us so do not presume ot.
When people respond to criticism by claiming victim status, it's not an attractive sight. Someone who disagrees with you, and your first response is "Jew hatred??" C'mon.
I would never paint an entire group of people with one brush, because I'm quite sure most Jews don't have this difficulty, but there are plenty who refuse to abandon their victimhood status.
This war is all about China? That’s not your idea you just heard that from clueless sycophant and your own confirmation bias made it true in your simple mind. Then you brainlessly parroted it.
There is currently a struggle going on between China and to some extent Russia and the US. China has been using economic help to woo third world countries Russia uses Arab terrorists (or they both do - or everybody does) either way, there is now a big struggle over Iran which has huge quantities of oil that has been helping China since the fall of Venezuela (which is also part of the global struggle). There are many moving parts to all this but it's not, as Sachs would like us to believe a power play by Israel and Trump.
I agree with you, Alison there’s definitely a China thread and all of this. It goes with Venezuela as well. China is very dependent on Iranian and Venezuela cheap oil Russia as well not only that but the attack and Venezuela remove China from our hemisphere.
Utter hogwash and cope. Again you, like Alison are just parroting talking points you heard from liars. All the war lies and the people who tell them and the vapid fools like you who just repeat them brainlessly need to be called out and shamed until your opinion is no longer accepted in society.
I'm not going to waste time debating people who are parroting war lies. They are lies they will not take any more of my time. I live not by lies. And those who support and prosecute a war based on lies deserve to be ignored at best and put in jail at worst and definitely don't warrant any sympathy or benefit of the doubt in this life and should feel the pain they advocate on others in the next. Thats a fact and I don't care if you accept it or not. You are nothing to me, and my words are for everyone besides you so they know what many people think about cowardly war liars sitting in safety while they defend the carpet bombing of innocent men, women and children.
Listened to Pepe Escobar’s take on the Iranian situation today and his views are more likely to be accurate than yours. Israel/the Epstein syndicate have made me find sympathy with Iran, no mean feat. How much support has Israel lost recently? How much antisemitism have they fueled?
Why? Today is the first time I have seen him. He’s published in several outlets, including rt. I started really loosing faith in American media around the Iraq war. At least with rt you know it is state media. So he may be biased but has he been wrong or inaccurate? An interesting thing he pointed out was the possible targeting of Iranian banks. His understanding was if that were to happen all international banks within range would become fair game. This rattled bankers and also led to a recommendation that anyone housed close to those banks should consider evacuating. The bank destruction in Iran made sense to me because they are outside the control of the international banking community and that is verboten. Makes more sense than the China thing. Bias doesn’t make his conclusions wrong. He’s not the only one I have heard saying that this has depleted both American and Israeli missile stocks and that instead of escorting ships through Hormuz our navy has withdrawn to about a thousand kilometers. I don’t know how trustworthy he or the Iranian government are, but I know that my own government has lied and obfuscated repeatedly across many administrations and not to the benefit of the majority of its citizens
I have listened to him many times on the Duran on Locals....A stopped clock is correct two times a day and that is how I feel about Sachs. I listen to words used. He is full of himself and I never trust anyone who is full of himself. He may be correct about some subjects but not about others. I determine whether I use someone as a good source on whether what they say rings true, in my experience and analysis, or not. I listen to Alexander of the Duran on some subjects but not others. Alex is too young...I listen for the travelogue. I stopped listening to Robert Barnes. Another person full of themselves. I used to listen to Ritter until I could stand it anymore....the same with Johnson....
I don't listen to Sachs because I think that he never has the full picture. We can disagree on that I simply cannot stomach listening to that full-of-himself person...
Interesting take, Alison. I wasn’t aware of Sachs ties to the CCP. I agree that this conflict as well as the Venezuelan operation are intricately linked to our goals as far as China is concerned, gaining leverage for the April meeting between President Trump and Xi of China. I think there are other concerns at play also, but China is the biggest one, IMHO.
We jews aren’t good at ruling the world but we are very good at preemptive war and indiscriminate killing of citizens. Or what the IDF refers to as “mowing the lawn”. Hopefully people like yourself will make aliyah and go fight for Israel and save the Jewish People.
Yah… there’s a lot of people terminally online that have Israel Derangement Syndrome. Just because it benefits Israel, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t benefit Americans and the world in general. They can’t consider the possibility that maybe this whole thing might be a good thing.
Getting rid of Islamic Marxism in the Middle East is a huge benefit in my book. I’m also very glad to see Venezuela and Cuba being freed from crap communism too.
How people can be against removing the subjugation endured by these people is beyond me.
I hope you go down to your local military recruitment office and sign up. Please go and fight the good fight. Save the Iranian people and save America. I’m sure you don’t just talk the talk you walk the walk. Keep us posted when you get to the Middle East and save us. Thank you for enlisting.
Common invective. Common geopolitical responses based on opinions and how he views history. He would be better received if he hadn't told us that the President and the SOW were idiots, basically.
So, we lose Walter but get a long form interview with Sachs? I’m trying to give Racket a chance to show some relevance and value, but it is losing me. I want Racket to be my primary go to independent news source, but I am not seeing it. Very frustrated.
I’m definitely shopping. I’d like a place to land before departing, but this is only getting worse. I’m shocked at how tin eared Racket is. Sachs? Who is next? Dan Rather?
I’m sure you can find a place that shares your same views of the world. You are so much smarter than me and I’m sure you will find a choir so you can remain thought less.
Revolver and Zerohedge websites; Coffee and Covid, and ANDmag Substacks. Given them all a try. None spend their resources analyzing the NYT's articles or clips from Rachele Maddow.
Say it louder! It’s crazy how left wingers say they hate tyranny but don’t care when someone they perceive as an “oppressed” does some oppression of their own subjects. As if it’s justified to kill people just because they’re protesting hyperinflation. Madness. The left are so fake. It’s why I left the left back in 2020.
Yes of course why didn't we think of going to the UN. It's done so many great things and seeks truth and righteous. Thats all we had to do...its as simple as Jeffery says!
How do you know they want nuclear weapons Netyanhu and Trump say they do? Since 1992 they have been weeks or months away from nuclear weapons. It’s ok that Israel and USA have them. We will never use them - oh wait we already did.
Matt, I can appreciate hearing both sides of a story, but this interview appears to be much more than that. More like One Step Over the Line.....I've been watching closely since your separation from Walter Kirn, and new hires for a new direction.....I am very close to cancelling the Subscription as I feel many others are,,,prove me wrong,,and show both sides of this story,,,Irans state sponsership of terror for 47 years, Irans build up of Nuclear fissile materials, Iran's huge investment in Ballistic Missile technology, Irans crackdown on speech, and Irans slaughter of its own people,,,,tell that story as well as a pro Palestine Columbia perspective...
Same. Not looking for an echo chamber, which Matt has never been. However this piece by Emily (I'm not going to call it an 'interview') was basically a Trump/Hegseth/USA bad/stupid/evil.
I can get that from mainstream media. Instead they've chosen to go to a hotbed of activism, Columbia University, to air a professor's views which aren't particularly thoughtful.
That story is being bellowed from the rooftops by the entire corporate media in the United States. You really need Matt to spend his time on that as well?
"They were wanting, above all, negotiations. They were repeatedly insisting we do not want nuclear weapons. It’s against the religious orders, and it is not what we want."
Can someone reconcile this statement with their actions of uranium enrichment? Or is Sachs just a naive idiot?
I'd love to see these 'religious orders' that prohibit annihilation of civilians specifically using nuclear weapons. Clearly their religion doesn't prohibit killing thousands of their own countrymen and women. In fact, don't their religious orders suggest the elimination of infidels worldwide?
Sachs has very little credibility on any issue. BTW, if DC does have "designs" on Iran regime change-or much more likely, destroying any capability Iran has to fund terrorism globally, not to mention building offensive capability enough to destroy Israel (as they admit in their own words) and supporting people who try terror here, it is precisely what they deserve and we are the only one that can do that. When MAGA and the left both say let's stay out of foreign wars-I agree-and do not support boots on ground-wars that have no impact on the US should be avoided. That is not this. I don't care if Pakistan and India fight, because that will never affect us. Iran impacts us and our allies every single day. That IS America first.
I'll say it again. Jeffrey Sachs can't be dismissed that easily.
He's been right on many things. He had much to do with stabilizing the economies of Eastern Europe after 1989 -- to the point they function better than Western Europe. And he wanted to do the same for Russia, but was prevented by the Clinton Administration.
Disagree with him if you want. But he's no Paul Krugman.
"He was right 37 years ago" is not the endorsement you think it is. If you have to go back that far to find something he was right about you've lost the argument
I was working in some of the same circles as Sachs in the '90s and he did some serious damage to some Central and East European countries after the Wall fell. His austerity measures were too extreme and didn't allow for necessary spending to keep the economies moving. I think at some point even he admitted that his advised courses of actions had real flaws.
I haven't noticed his anti-Trump bias until this article (not that I was paying close attention to him), but I suppose its not surprising. The Ivory Towers have become echo chambers with no escape hatches.
Was reversing 50 years of collectivism a problem for which there was no map?
Yes.
Look at the outcomes in Poland, Hungary and the former Czechoslovakia compared to Russia where a bizarre Milton Friedman like approach prevailed, and I think it's clear Sachs and the IMF got more right than wrong.
But in Hungary it took Orban and I believe EU financial help -- I can't remember all the specifics -- to really get the economy on the right track. And I really don't think you can compare any of the Central/East European nations to Russia for many, many reasons. Russia was never going to follow the same path, either politically or economically.
The more I think about it, I'm remembering that Poland scrapped Sachs's plans because they were too severe and creating too much damage to the population.
In retrospect, I think Sachs was using these nations and people as lab rats to try to prove his pet theories. Maybe he learned something from all of it, but at what cost? I think he hurt more than helped.
Well, Sachs dismissed Trump easily, who has also been right on many things. Here are just a few:
Telling Germany/EU at the 2018 UN General Assembly that doing a deal/relying on Russia for oil would come back to bite them in the ass later... they still fund Russia in the Russia/Ukraine war!
Trump 1.0 encouraged NATO countries to double their defense spending from 2% GDP (which some were still below) to 4% GDP... had Europe started to increase defense spending and NOT fund Russia through oil deals there might not be a Russia/Ukraine war today.
Trump 1.0 listed the Iran-backed Houthis as a global terrorist organization... A designation Biden removed in 2021 only to re-label them terrorists a couple years later...
Trump has argued against mass migration from the start of his political career (and won two presidential elections largely because of that position) and now in the last several years many Western countries including Denmark, France, Germany, Sweden... are reversing course and instituting stricter immigration laws and increasing deportations after realizing their mass migration policies were more harmful than helpful.
Trump 2.0 came into office and raised concern about China's presence at the Panama Canal, similar to how he raised awareness about Greenland being of strategic importance and the need to ensure China and Russia don't end up with an outsized influence in the region. You may not like how he did it, but people are talking about it now and taking the issue more seriously.
Sachs is a partisan hack. How's that for using a cliche? He's always been a partisan hack, and he always will be one. He hates Donald Trump. He thinks with the one brain shared by the globalist, communist, and activist monotrons who robotically follow tried and failed geopolitical strategies common in Britian and the EU. He pretends that world leaders listen to him and confide in him. He's a joke. Why anyone would want to elevate his voice is beyond me. What a waste of time and effort, Emily. You are smarter than this.
You don't much like the war in Iran? You would prefer for the Iranians to detonate nuclear bombs in Tel Aviv, Washington, and NYC, killing tens of millions? They have said, many times, they will do precisely that just as soon as they can.
Well, we deposed their democratically elected leader and replaced him with a vicious thug who proceeded to kill a religious leader’s son. I am sick of Israel running America, imagine how they must have felt and then the ushering in of the Islamic revolution, fucking priceless
Utter clueless Boomer take. Boomers believed every war lie in the Middle East and then when the lies are exposed they just cravenly go on about their lives. Can't wait until they are all dead and no one has to hear their brainless takes on politics and Foreign Policy.
I would bet you your house that Isreal is the one who drops a nuke in the Middle East. We are getting closer to that every day and cretins like you who parrot War Lies will be partly to blame.
That's foolish, Israel has no need to nuke anyone when it has so many better tools at its disposal. Nukes would be a very last resort that we're nowhere near contemplating.
Good advice. I am 73 and we have been involved in unjust and unwise conflicts my entire life, so besides other indicators, I’m just going with the odds here
Wrong again, at least you are consistent about being wrong about everything. I don't hate Jews I hate the control the State and Government of Isreal and its lobby have over MY Government. Go Fuck Yourself.
Yes, "Isreal" (lol), a small nation of 10 million, controls the American govt and its military and foreign policy, along w the media, banks, Wall St etc...Did I leave anything out?
People have been claiming for centuries that a cabal of nefarious Jews secretly control every state, bank, business, university, govt, and are the instigators and profiteers of every war. This was already played out in the days of Voltaire and is the same ancient hysteria, mostly rooted in envy and bigotry.
Your hysterical claim of Jewish control is just an old blood libel in a new red-white-and-blue bottle.
Adam - Settle down. Your last sentence completely nullifies everything preceding it. You show yourself to be nothing but a total bundle of seething emotion incapable of rational thought or reason.
"Go Fuck Yourself," or "piece of shit" might seem to you to have a load of intellectual weight, but to everyone else such words are garbage products emanating from a garbage brain.
Hey, I too enjoyed the Matt and Walter discussions. Walter can be good listening but he also loves the sound of his own voice and to name drop and to constantly interrupt, which was somewhat forgivable for the entertainment and speculation value. I came to despise the democrats after a lifetime of disappointment. I have never cared for trump but was hoping he might rectify the censorship and general malfeasance that happened during covid and keep us out of wars. There I go hoping for things when I am old enough to know better. Circumstances have changed my level of support and my opinions. Perhaps that happened to Matt also. The only time the government gives a rat’s ass about my welfare is when it happens to briefly coincide with what they perceive theirs to be and unless some of you are big donors, you’re in the same boat
So Sachs' explanation for why Trump, Netanyahu, Hegseth, and anybody else with decision-making responsibility in Washington and Israel may be failing to see things his way on this issue is that they're all either narcissists, idiots, unhinged and/or delusional? Swell! That clears that up! This is analysis?
What reason at this juncture makes you think they are not? I was all for the no more wars bullshit but the Epstein syndicate is running things for the benefit of Israel and trump’s family’s grift and investment opportunities and possibly some compromat. And Netanyahu and trump are both the sort who would wreck the world rather than be held to account
Statistical improbability for one thing; suspicion of 'analysis' that favours personally abusing debating opponents over relevantly addressing their arguments for another.
After losing America This Week and seeing the resulting reports that are to take its place, to say, I’m disappointed would be an understatement. (Not to mention the flooding the site with duplicates of every posting).
But now you have Sachs presented as something other than an antisemitic idiot, I’m thinking seriously about not re-upping my subscription. Matt, your site is going off the rails quickly.
Is this the type of 'journalism' we can expect going forward?
"And I think regardless of what you think about his psychological state, it’s clear that he’s on a sugar high from the decapitation strikes in Venezuela, some of the cartel leaders in Mexico."
I’ve listened to Sachs for decades. He’s been wrong about virtually everything, but he sure seems to crave attention. American history is full of inconsequential pundits of which Sachs is one more. His unhinged emotional rants in this interview do not meet the standards that subscribers expect from Racket. Is Emily next going to interview Meaghan Markle, or perhaps the new Ayatollah Jr.?
Honestly, that was a tough read. All Sachs did was basically defend Iran by bashing Trump & Bessent. I would not personally qualify Sachs as an intelligent interviewee with any deep insight. Way to much name calling. I bet Obama loves him though.
Sachs, to put it clearly, is full of s**t. He has the nerve to keep referencing that the Omani's statement, of reaching a good point in the talks, as though that is meaningful. Sure, because Iran is such a stellar history of acting according to their promises. Give us a break. His hero, Obama, used that "logic", and I guess if you overlook the continued pursuit of nuclear weapons, state sponsored terrorism and the call for death to Israel and Americans, the "logic" worked. It didn't work for us, but it certainly worked for Iran. I don't know if the current action will work either, but Sach's commentary is every bit as delusional as his characterization of Trump.
The fact that Kopp did not push back AT ALL in this interview is telling on a number of levels.
Except that Kopp didn’t follow Sachs down the conspiracy rathole all the way to his deranged claim that Covid-19 leaked from an American lab instead of a Chinese one.
I was going to say, “Tucker, move over.” But “Candace, move over” seems more appropriate!
Sachs’ TDS is so severe, he doesn’t even see that howling abuse at Trump, and calling Scott Bessant a “thug”, is no way to persuade them to change course.
🎯
If you want a good image of the man, you let him speak. She's exposing him by NOT engaging him in debate.
No one needs to "expose" him. He's not new. She is just in over her head. Time to unsubscribe.
You do a fabulous job of speaking for yourself!
Bingo….
And he’s a bit clueless.
“ They need to stop carpet bombing in Iran”- Sachs
Its precision bombing, not carpet bombing.
Iran is using "carpet" munitions against the Gulf States. That would be a major atrocity that Sachs denies so glibly.
He thinks they are bombing carpets…
Sorry Matt or whoever is in charge of Racket, but I couldn’t get more than 20 minutes into this one. Sachs had some good comments and insights on Russia/Ukraine, but he’s out of his lane on this one. “International law” “UN charter” LOL. Even Big Top Carney realizes the New World Order is dead.
P.S. I miss Walter.
If international law is dead, thugs with nuclear weapons win. Hail Donald!
Maybe he is on the “ magic carpet”, known to the local Iranian mullah
That's to impair the Persian Air Force.
Hopefully you are in the military or are planning to enlist and fight that evil empire of Iran. Don’t be a chicken hawk. Go there and get them for us.
Sachs is not equipped to hand Bessent a towel in the men's room. Seriously.
When supposedly smart people digress to name calling it's because they have no real argument. I could only stomach only about a third of his rant.
Agree. I made it through about three of Kopp's questions, and moved on. The responses seem to need (at least) some editing. Something is off here.
I had to stop and come back to this more than three times. The repetition and dirt slinging was worse every time.
I couldn't finish it either.. pathetic
Same here I just stopped the interview.
Sachs may have made some valid points in the interview, but so much of his invective does indeed sound unhinged and hyperemotional. For that reason he fails at persuasion.
I think you have the best comment on this. I see several of Sachs's statements that I agree with and quite a few more I disagree with, but he's so strident and obnoxious that he polarizes me to the opposite extreme of whatever he happens to be saying at the moment.
In addition to his unhinged rants against Trump and Bessent, blaming them for the attack on Iran, he also says the CIA has been controlling our foreign policy since JFK's assassination (that may be true!). My question for Sachs is - which is it?
Sachs is one of those Jews who makes his living by denouncing Israel and supporting the world's Jew haters. His brain rotted from bile decades ago.
I lost interest when he talked about the oil shocks of the 70's. Back when Dad's Ford was getting 7 mpg. have real concerns of what is going on and the risks inherent but when I see the same old tripe and assumptions its not worth the read.
Yeah the oil shock prediction was a itself fairly shocking for an Ivy League economist.
"The United States was a net importer of oil in 1973. By that year, domestic oil production had peaked (around 1970) and could not meet rising demand, forcing the U.S. to import over a third of its oil, making it heavily dependent on foreign suppliers. This reliance led directly to the 1973 oil crisis"
"The United States is currently a net exporter of total petroleum, a status it has maintained annually since 2020. However, it remains a net importer of crude oil. (In 2025, U.S. petroleum exports totaled approximately 10.7 million barrels per day (b/d), while imports were roughly 7.9 million b/d. The U.S. continues to import more raw crude oil than it exports to meet the specific requirements of domestic refineries, many of which are configured for heavier foreign crude. Net crude oil imports decreased from 2.5 million b/d in 2024 to 2.2 million b/d in 2025.)"
Interesting stuff. Correct me if I’m wrong but wasn’t one of the real culprits in making the oil shock worse the Shah if Iran?
I hadn't heard that, I was barely sentient (well, sentient, but just starting to be aware of headline news) at the time of the revolution.
"The Shah of Iran played a central, paradoxical role in the 1970s oil shocks by initially driving up prices in 1973, followed by his regime's collapse in 1978-1979 causing the second, more severe, global oil supply crisis."
Quotes are AI generated. I find AI is usually good at providing a consensus narrative. I'm guilty of not always digging deeper if it confirms my bias (what I thought I knew).
He's clearly knowledgeable and has been articulate in other contexts. But I don't listen to James Carville, either, despite his unique perspective. The ranting / personal history ratio is inverted. Whatever either of them could contribute (arguably significant) is smothered in the crib with the TDS pillow.
So anyone who is antiwar hates Jewish people? That sounds like antisemitism. I do not equate Jewish people with being pro war.
"So anyone who is antiwar hates Jewish people?" I never said any such thing.
"That sounds like antisemitism." I do appreciate this semantic jujitsu, though of course the charge is silly.
I was responding to some deranged comment about Israel planning to nuke Iran and how they control our govt and military, which reeks of the ancient blood libel about nefarious Jews having secret control of the world.
Context matters.
Sorry, but Jeffrey Sachs can't be dismissed that easily.
He's been right on many things. He had much to do with stabilizing the economies of Eastern Europe after 1989 -- to the point they function better than Western Europe. And he wanted to do the same for Russia, but was prevented by the Clinton Administration.
Disagree with him if you want. But he's no Paul Krugman.
That was definitely the zenith of his career as I remember it, or at least as he tells it.
I've watched and read many of his interviews including his attempt to get money for Russia. One video was him dissing Trump two weeks after his 2017 inauguration. Mr. Sustainable Development’s comments about Trump were just as vile as in this interview.
He is good at memorizing dates and people on events that show the USG for what has been since WWII. I cannot remember if he had scathing words for Obama and his coups in the ME and specifically the overthrow of Ukraine ensuring a war with Russia. Did he ever comment on money O flew to Iran? Did he ever talk about why that money was Iran's but in the USG's hands?
Well he is an economist, so that's a pretty good "zenith" for any economist. 😂
What's your zenith?
My TV but its kinda old.
You have to be of a certain age to get this joke 😂
You do know that’s an irresponsible, irreverent comment.
It's irresponsible and irrelevant that an economist transitioning Marxist economies to successful capitalist economies would not be a career high point?
Please explain. 😂
Laughing at your own jokes. Now that is funny…
He must be quite old then
Thomas Jefferson and George Washington are old.
So is the Bible.
Your point?
That is all true. I think you understand my point.
Is your point Jefferson, Washington and the Bible are irrelevant because they're more than 40 years old?
Because that seems to be your point. Please, do clarify!
He’s 71.
Krugman...aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahahahahahahahhawhatamaroon
Paul “the internet will go the way of the fax machine…”Krugman?
That's the one.
😂
Eastern europe came with an aspirational work ethic that Western Europe lost long ago.
The Russians despise him, according to my sources.
The farther Sachs gets from his expertise the less I like him. He the world a service in Eastern Europe, but I'm not sure he's got the same chops outside his field.
So he is the one who turned them into a mafia state. Not a ringing endorsement.
Which of Poland, Hungary and Chech/Slovakia is a mafia state?
I'm eager for your instruction on this matter!!
Emily was awfully friendly considering that he never even let her finish half of her questions.
I’m not understanding that attitude either. I’m all for having different views platformed but ask some tough questions
I think Emily was predisposed toward Sachs. I noticed even in her introduction the jab that “Team Trump had promised an end to forever wars” and I thought, man, it’s premature to be whining about forever wars after a week and a half. Isn’t it?
There was a time when I thought Matt would give us a more even-handed piece. But I feel like either I’m wrong or in recent weeks his hand has been off the tiller.
I agree with you totally and again a predisposition or opinion is not supposed to enter into the equation, a least not here in my opinion. The reason I signed up was my faith in Matt following the truth wherever it might lead. Not to subscribe to a service that platforms biased opinions
Bada bing! I think Doctor Mist, just adjacent has it pegged. Wonder if Kopp reads the comments.
She's accustomed to the softball league.
So so difficult to read.
Not remotely serious or curious or capable of independent thought.
"Thugs" but only on one side
Ditto. "Jeffrey Sachs: It’s not responsible for so many atrocities, first of all. It doesn’t want nuclear weapons, and it signed an agreement to have strict supervision over its nuclear program with the International Atomic Energy Agency." Getting foreign policy right means looking at different views, but when it's foolish, we have to call it foolish. Sachs is eloquent, but he takes foolish to an exceptional level.
I think Sachs may suffer the conceit of believing his notion of how people act is applicable across the world and across cultures and worldviews. His "correctness" was apparently confirmed in the post-USSR breakup in Eastern Europe and his success in helping those former satellite nations establish economies. Thus he thinks that what the Iranian Mullahs say can be taken at face value and they will act consistent with how he thinks Westerners act (even ir they are easterner orthodox folks). Sachs seems ignorant of the concept of Taqiyya.
I've never been sure what Sachs thinks, just what he knows to be true, whether it is or not.
“Meaghan Markle”. Perfect. I was thinking maybe Kanye.
By the way, what is Jeffery Sach’s score on the Shill o Meter?
For that matter, what is Kopp’s score?
Let’s see, what would a journo do?
Maybe ask Sachs about all the time he has spent in China? How much of his income originates with the CCP and perhaps the Russian Kleptocracy.
Oh yeah, and Kopp should say “wow” more often.
What are Sach’s qualifications for diagnosing Trump as a psychopath?
Did he arrive at his conclusion by watching Trump press conferences?
Can Sach name any single member of the so called deep state besides James Angleton?
If the U.S. took their case to the UN Security Council, as Sachs prescribes, does he imagine that China who buys 13% of their oil at deep discount, from Iran, or Russia who relies on Iran for war drones, or maybe even the UK and France, increasingly swayed by growing domestic Moslem populations, might veto the resolution? What a joke proposal. And zero pushback.
A lot of Americans don’t agree with every Trump action and they sure as hell don’t like all the braggadocio.
But would it be too much to expect a journo to at least list Iran’s evil activities for the past quarter century? Provide just a tad of context? “Wow”, apparently it is.
If you want to hate and trash the United States and Israel, you’ll have no shortage of friends, but doing so outside the context of every other nation’s dark side is a bit dishonest don’t you think?
The tabulations are in.
Sachs/Kopp Shill o Meter:
107%.
Ding Ding Ding. Johnny, tell him what he's won!!!
Scathing, Brick.
Sea - You didn't see Kopp's own biases? Late in the article she essentially put herself in the mission to end gain of function. Not to report on it, not to ask and press for where Bhattacharya is on. his promise to ban it, but to announce banning is her personal mission. I agree it needs to be banned. But write articles and publish on why it is important and why isn't it done.
I sense Racket 2.0 is going, intentionally or implicitly, in the direction of Taibbi's old line biases: Bard grad, Sanders supporter (why and how he ever was that way is a mystery, at lest to me), "peacenik" attitude. I have this sneaking suspicion that the split with Walter (which Taibbi has frequently stated was Walter's choice) has something to do with Walter's seeming acceptance of Trump World and Matt starting to recoil.
I think Kopp is starting to grow on me, but I have more than a tad of raised eyebrow about her supra editorial stance. That is, inserting her opinion and biases. Time will tell.
I read Sachs' first volley and that was enough for me. It was immediately apparent where his head is at, and that is in a very dark and smelly place.
To mention the 70's oil shocks from first the Yom Kippur war then the Iranian "revolution" and implying a parallel would occur in the U.S. today without even acknowledging (or perhaps he does eventually, I didn't care enough to read) how the entire West was painfully dependent upon Middle East oil at the time, compared to today where we are a net exporter, belies any perspective.
The nation which stands to lose the most in a constrained M.E. oil supply is China. Few in the West are crying for them.
As for the "starting new forever wars" shibboleth, Iran has been at war with the U.S. for 47 years. Countless American lives have been taken with barely zero retaliation, with perhaps the exception of fighting the IRGC and their proxies in Iraq. Which of course only emboldened the savage regime. Six Presidents sat back and did nothing, though I'll cut Reagan some slack as he was singularly fixated on the Soviet Union and containing worldwide communism. If only he could have foreseen that radical Islam would replace it as the world's most murderous ideology.
If the thought of the Ayatollah armed with nuclear ballistic missiles doesn't scare TF out of you, you are not paying attention. What is being done is what needs to be done, and should have been done long ago. Let us pray for a swift but decisive end.
Excellent comments. Afuera indeed, con el ayatollah.
I agree, but I'm not sure I see how those prayers might be answered.
you listened to him for decades even though he was wrong about everything? That makes no sense.
Conferences and public events where he spoke. I didn’t seek out his opinion, if that’s what you mean.
Only Jewish supremacist Israeli first Trump cultists are allowed here, remember that Emily! Bad girl!
Oh, Matt!! How did you end up with all of these war-loving nuts on this site?????? Will you please address this? Thank you, Emily, for interviewing Jeffrey Sachs, one of my favorite for decades.
Tens of thousands of Iranians have been tortured and killed, other tens of thousands of Iranian women have been raped, tortured and killed. They of course mean nothing to you. Iran has fomented wars in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Gaza and Yemen, costing many thousands of lives. They of course mean nothing to you. Iran has assassinated or sought to assassinate hundreds of regime opponents worldwide. Grace, you don’t care about them either do you? They vow to obliterate the U.S. None of this happened before the Islamic Revolutio
“War loving nut?” Given the aforementioned, Yes. Where do you stand?
Great, now do Israel...
Did Sachs whine when Biden gave Russia the greenlight to invade Ukraine?
Irans economy appears to be somewhat similar to North Korea- building drones for Russia, their tomahawk missiles that they’ve been shooting at neighbors over the past couple of weeks, while killing tens of thousands of its own citizens the past couple of months.
Crickets from Sachs.
Sachs is always wrong but never uncertain. But ok. He has a point of view. As to Emily Kopp, the test will be who she interviews next. If she talks to someone with a more well rounded and thorough knowledge of the ME and specifically Iran, all will be forgiven. Or even someone off the deep end but from the other end of the spectrum. I'm worried she's going to go full Tucker and just be "asking questions" to one prejudiced academic or expert after another.
Agreed, unfortunately. I too have watched Sachs for years. He's falling apart in this interview and effectively crashed through every barrier of moderation and restraint we might expect from a self-described intellectual expert. His arm-chair psycho-analysis and desire to demonize the current administration well beyond any reasonable critique is something I'd expect from a five-year old. Might be his worst ever performance. The transcript is painful enough. Glad I didn't watch.
That said. Sachs is a get and Emily's concluding paragraph makes begins with a clear statement that she doesn't agree with all of Sachs' positions. The age gap didn't help.
Emily has my full support, btw, as do all the Racket staff Matt's "surprise" management style hasn't made their start any easier.
The big surprise Matt should have announced was that he was giving Walter with a big, fat 100k bonus check for all he brings to the site (maybe he did!). However, Walter explicitly noted that he was paid a "pittance" for years of making Racket better - which isn't the way most of us describe being fairly compensated.
Moreover, Walter has been in the business longer than Matt, publishes his own paper and would have known exactly what his contributions here did for years improving/maintaining Matt's bottom line. His reward? SFA - and great reason to move to a place where his contributions are actually recognized in ways all creative folks understand.
Emily and the staff have been dealt a tough hand. If she rights the ship, she'll deserve a lot of credit and more than Matt's thank you. If the Racket staff are reading these comments I hope they pass on my best wishes and support to Emily.
Wrong about what exactly?
He has claimed many times that Iran doesn’t want a nuclear weapon yet all evidence is to the contrary and if Iran didn’t want to have one they sure aren’t acting like that.
what evidence? The former Ayotollah had preached against the development of nuclear weapons for decades and the IAEA inspectors have never found evidence of a nuclear weapon in Iran. You can say at best that Iran has the capability to make one but we have no idea how long that would take. The Omani's were also absolutely correct in reporting that the Iranians had capitulated to every demand of the US government negotiators. They just want the sanctions lifted and to retain their sovereignty. Feel free to find some evidence and prove me wrong but Netanyahu has been making the claim that Iran was developing a nuclear weapon for 40 years and evidence has never been presented.
There is only one thing that I believe. No one is telling the truth everyone is lying So if Iran doesn’t want the nuclear weapon why did they do all the building their nuclear sites deep underground? The whole Middle East culture is built upon lying so there is nothing you can trust from anyone including your mother.
The IAEA reported that Iran had enriched uranium to 60% (about two weeks from a weapon if no big glitches) and refused to allow inspections agreed upon. In Farsi, Khamenei made it clear that the annihilation of the Little and Big Satans were specific goals. Do you want to wait for a checkered flag?
Actually, I think you need to provide evidence for this statement: "The Omani's were also absolutely correct in reporting that the Iranians had capitulated to every demand of the US government negotiators."
That is not a simple disagreement, it is fundamental,. If true and if this Administration ignored it, that would, for the first time, be impeachable material. I rather doubt the Senate and House would have voted the way they idid if that were true.
"Absolutely?"
Just, wow.
Trumps own director of national intelligence disagrees with you. She said Iran is not pursuing nuclear weapons under sworn oath of under penalty of perjury.
All you people ignore this in favor of Israeli propaganda. Gee, wonder why.
yes and Powell said that Iraq had WMD’s too. Statements from anyone in Government are absolutely worthless do you not see that yet?
Does that apply to the Israeli government as well?
They all lie Israel included
LMAO I vote for Meghan..
Yes, I knew that once Walter left Racket would turn to the Israel/Jew hatred which Matt was having a hard time avoiding. Sachs is a tool of the CCP which is what this war is really about. Not US or Israeli domination of the MIddle East but keeping the balance from tilting towards China. But you know, we Jews are really good at ruling the world. All 15 million of us.
I'd feel bad for Matt, but I believe he shot himself in the foot.
Getting close to canceling racket.
I already did. I have the annual sub which I already paid for in November but I removed the renewal. The whole reason I signed up for Racket was bc I loved the dynamic between Walter and Matt.
I loved that Walter was like me, an ex-progressive/socialist that became MAGA. And I liked that Matt would disagree with him and make Walter explain his views.
Plus, Walter’s vision in looking at everything as a narrative was super helpful. He definitely made interesting points about the shadows on the cave. His analysis was unique amongst all pundits. I really miss it.
And their book club was excellent. Reminded me of being in literature class again.
Truly sad to see all these things end.
I really like Bridget Phetasy who’s a writer/comedian that is also ex-lefty gone MAGA. There’s very few like that in the influencer sphere and I’m sad that she’s now the only one after Racket changed.
Agree, I was also a huge fan of the Walter Matt discussions. I find few people interested in deep dives these days - I now live far from my remaining fellow discussers or they're dead (I'm old) so they fed me what I needed. Homeless now but will continue and give Matt a chance to see what he can build.
I feel that something is missing. Could it be Walter? Maybe.
I cancelled today.
ATW was unique in our current world. Start with the fact that you have two extremely educated, articulate and erudite speakers. They are both somewhat younger than me but still speak in terms and of things with which I can relate versus the current Newspeak. Add to that the respectful tension between the two. I really like Matt personally, or as personally as one can given we’ve never met. I like his classic liberal values even though he is to my left. But what I really enjoyed was Walter forcing him to realize that the cherished world in which he once lived is long dead and gone. I can see it in Matt’s eyes and face when he is trying to view the subject at hand through the lens of his past world but just can’t.
I was very much looking forward to how Matt would handle having the scales fall from his eyes. Doesn’t look like it’s going to happen now.
Sorry but Matt is not an articulate speaker...very difficult to listen to...I always want to just goose him to see if he can spit it out in a coherent sentence.
But a diligent researcher and excellent writer.
That may be but I suffer listening to him....
I reluctantly agree. I greatly respect him, but it’s painful to listen to him
Commenters complain that Walt cut Matt off; I thought he was filling in the void. However, Matt was doing double duty controlling screen feeds.
I have never been a liberal or today’s Marxist, but I think Matt was a little old for a Bernie enthusiast. Perhaps his years in Russia, more than Bernie did, or his caring and kind ethos had something to do with it. As a conservative constantly at odds with the GOP, I quickly genuflected when O made the seen. I’m not a spread the wealth or hope and change (whatever that was) admirer. At least I never had to wake up one day to a party I no longer recognized for what it was!
Thankfully Matt got that far, because many of my friends and a few family members never have, probably because their TVs are tuned to alphabet news channels and they are incapable of detecting conditioning and propaganda. Last time I watch any of those news shows was 1985.
I do miss Walter's take on the story behind the news- what is the narrative in all of this? There is a lot of messaging going on and it would be very helpful right now to have someone interpret.
It reminds me when my parents used to use the military alphabet to talk in front of my brother and me when we were little - we called it "language" and we knew they were talking about something they either didn't want us to know, or about us. We would throw out words (Sierra! Echo!) as wild guesses - the reality was we couldn't really spell yet. But we knew something was being said - we just didn't know what. I think a lot of what we see right now is just an advanced version of that.
Of course, you needn't miss Walter. He's a regular with Megyn Kelly now
Don't we wish.
How do I find this person?
Because you're world view isn't being constantly reinforced?
That's Dim stuff.
Great point. The invective thrown Matt's way since the changes seems to be mostly centered on readers not being stroked enough on their pet issues.
And for how long have commenters been taking Racket to task for not enough Israel/Gaza discussion? Ok, here's some. But it's the wrong flavor for some!
Two things. One is. When do we even see content from Matt anymore. Secondly Sachs has the same NYTimes account of reality. I’m all for giving alternative views of platform, but ask some hard questions. It reminds me of Tucker interviewing Fuentes and never bringing up some of his obviously crazy comments and making him explain them.
Well....considering that Tucker is crazy...
follow that train of thought and you see the point I was making lol
"Wrong flavor" is exactly the problem.
I don't agree with everything here. But Taibbi has shown he's trying to be an honest umpire.
Isn't the NY Times, NBC and Fox being dishonest and selling a flavor being what people wanted to escape?
Sorry but he is the age of my sons....His viewpoint is colored by that stage of thinking...I was there once....I understand the stages of thinking...and, it is real...
Are you talking about Matt?
He's a 56 year old man.
Are you saying he's too young? If so, I think that betrays you're a bit old.
You are, again, wrong. What we liked was the balance, now it's gone left editorially.
Even Matt explained why he was not covering Gaza so much, but I guess you wanted him controlled and to spit out the party line.
Why do people have to follow an any or none litmus test support like clapping seals in the leftist world?
Why can't people think for themselves and still be included on the left?
Time to hang it up, Gary. You haven’t won a single round. “You’re wrong again!” is not much of an argument.
It’s up there with “I know you are, but what am I?”
Dude, there are a bunch of other words there from me and others. You're so so obviously butt hurt.
Fly away lightweight you've been ratioed.
Well put!
What do you think about this war, my friend?
I worry it's going badly.
Drones on fishing boats sounds like a nightmare ... because our worthless media means they can't be dealt with.
I fear Trump may have had his manhood questioned by Netanyahu, and as a result, made a large blunder. Months or years from now, when we are hundreds of billions poorer and have a few hundred fewer live military people, the clerics will still be in charge, though hundreds, if not thousands of jihadists will have been “caused.”
Iran is 3X the size of Iraq, it’s richer than Iraq, and it is absolute folly to believe this will bring the change we desire in Iran.
I wish it wasn't so, but think you're about right.
I think he thought there would be uprising.
But those people died in June when we did nothing for them.
It's not that people want their world view reinforced. Walter just plain has more real world experience and has lived through more history. Matt is the same age group as my sons. Sorry....no comparison in experience between Matt and Walter. It's hard to find the correct words to describe how Matt comes across but it sort of fits what my mother would say to me when I was much younger (and I hated it and misunderstood what she was saying)...to wit, "you'll see things differently when you get a little older." And yes, there are stages in thought process colored by experience, and the quality of those experiences.
No because it has become unbalanced
Please do pull the trigger now before I have to read more idiocy from right wing Boomer moron Israeli first lunatics.
I see much smarter and saner people’s generous attempts to make you smarter and saner have failed.
Jew hatred is such an interesting facet of brain-dead victim culture.
Jew hatred is the right wings woke
Here goes another attempt...
Even when you say something kind of true, it's laden with falsehood and misunderstanding. Original-flavor wokeness popularized contemporary Jew hatred, often thinly veiled as opposition to Israel and Zionism, because (a) Jews practice meritocracy and capitalism all the way to proving every economic and cultural Marxist dictate wrong; (b) Jews tend to be successful—even the admittedly very backward Hasidim—and therefore resented by the do-nothing, know-nothing castaways who've turned to Marxist grievances for excuses; and (c) Jews are historically and religiously hated by a lot of stone-age brown people, and the left has suicidal-grade empathy for anyone who isn't white or first-world.
Those on the right who hate Jews do so because they've been screwed over for decades by Marxists and globalists, whom they very ignorantly mistake for Jews at large. It starts out rational, because they really are victims with serious grievances, and then it goes somewhere very irrational because, thanks to the left, Jews and Israel are low-hanging fruit.
Calling someone Israel-first because they're willing to support military actions by Israel against Israel's militant enemies is a bright blinking sign of your own Jew hatred, and it isn't the first.
Calling somebody Israel-first has nothing to do with Jew hatred, for any reason, as that conflates Jewishness itself with Israel. I could be criticizing Pete alcoholic Hegseth and you’d consider that Jew-hatred if I called him Israel-first for launching this war.
But I’m also not going to ignore the fact of a gigantic and powerful Jewish lobby that absolutely puts Israeli interests over American interests. But they are the ones conflating Israel itself with all Jews. I can’t help it if the country that’s causing problems for my nation is the Jewish state. I didn’t decide to call them that, they did. This war is not in American interests. It’s in Israeli interests.
That view in and of itself has nothing to do with “Jew-hate.”
Andrew, you are a pearl of wisdom, I just do not know which oyster cultivated it, Hamas maybe?
It was Qatar and Putin in the kitchen with a melon-ball scoop.
Again a good candidate to block, if only to help them live in their bubble more securely.
Then cancel it instead of bitching
Will do!
same
care to provide any examples of anyone on Racket engaging in "Jew hatred" or is disagreeing with an aggressive war now tantamount to anti semitism? I am also Jewish. People like yourself do not speak for all 15 million of us so do not presume ot.
If Sachs is one of the first interviews it's clear the direction of things but I'm not going anywhere. Yet.
Sachs IS Jewish you lunatic.
OH, but he isn’t your kind of Israel first Jew, so he’s a Jew-hating-jew.
You people are the epitome of mental illness.
Russians attempting to judge people is mighty funny.
Oh, the direction is clear? Is that it?
When people respond to criticism by claiming victim status, it's not an attractive sight. Someone who disagrees with you, and your first response is "Jew hatred??" C'mon.
You'd be better off to block Andrew and LG&M.
I would never paint an entire group of people with one brush, because I'm quite sure most Jews don't have this difficulty, but there are plenty who refuse to abandon their victimhood status.
I miss Matt’s levity I close to canceling. This interview was embarrassing.
This war is all about China? That’s not your idea you just heard that from clueless sycophant and your own confirmation bias made it true in your simple mind. Then you brainlessly parroted it.
There is currently a struggle going on between China and to some extent Russia and the US. China has been using economic help to woo third world countries Russia uses Arab terrorists (or they both do - or everybody does) either way, there is now a big struggle over Iran which has huge quantities of oil that has been helping China since the fall of Venezuela (which is also part of the global struggle). There are many moving parts to all this but it's not, as Sachs would like us to believe a power play by Israel and Trump.
I agree with you, Alison there’s definitely a China thread and all of this. It goes with Venezuela as well. China is very dependent on Iranian and Venezuela cheap oil Russia as well not only that but the attack and Venezuela remove China from our hemisphere.
Utter hogwash and cope. Again you, like Alison are just parroting talking points you heard from liars. All the war lies and the people who tell them and the vapid fools like you who just repeat them brainlessly need to be called out and shamed until your opinion is no longer accepted in society.
Talking points ?
Dispute my post with facts perhaps?
China is dependent on Iranian and Venezuelan oil or not?
China had a foothold and a major presence in Venezuela which they no longer have?
Venezuela supported the presence of terrorist groups such as Hezbollah as well
Are those facts or talking points?
Sadly, I am anticipating name calling as a response, perhaps you will surprise me
The vapid name calling is getting tiring here.
Straight to the personal attacks with zero arguments or substance, let alone a single fact. There are more than enough trolls here already.
I'm not going to waste time debating people who are parroting war lies. They are lies they will not take any more of my time. I live not by lies. And those who support and prosecute a war based on lies deserve to be ignored at best and put in jail at worst and definitely don't warrant any sympathy or benefit of the doubt in this life and should feel the pain they advocate on others in the next. Thats a fact and I don't care if you accept it or not. You are nothing to me, and my words are for everyone besides you so they know what many people think about cowardly war liars sitting in safety while they defend the carpet bombing of innocent men, women and children.
Listened to Pepe Escobar’s take on the Iranian situation today and his views are more likely to be accurate than yours. Israel/the Epstein syndicate have made me find sympathy with Iran, no mean feat. How much support has Israel lost recently? How much antisemitism have they fueled?
The minute I see that the byline is Pepe, I keep scrolling...I don't trust much of what he says.
Why? Today is the first time I have seen him. He’s published in several outlets, including rt. I started really loosing faith in American media around the Iraq war. At least with rt you know it is state media. So he may be biased but has he been wrong or inaccurate? An interesting thing he pointed out was the possible targeting of Iranian banks. His understanding was if that were to happen all international banks within range would become fair game. This rattled bankers and also led to a recommendation that anyone housed close to those banks should consider evacuating. The bank destruction in Iran made sense to me because they are outside the control of the international banking community and that is verboten. Makes more sense than the China thing. Bias doesn’t make his conclusions wrong. He’s not the only one I have heard saying that this has depleted both American and Israeli missile stocks and that instead of escorting ships through Hormuz our navy has withdrawn to about a thousand kilometers. I don’t know how trustworthy he or the Iranian government are, but I know that my own government has lied and obfuscated repeatedly across many administrations and not to the benefit of the majority of its citizens
I have listened to him many times on the Duran on Locals....A stopped clock is correct two times a day and that is how I feel about Sachs. I listen to words used. He is full of himself and I never trust anyone who is full of himself. He may be correct about some subjects but not about others. I determine whether I use someone as a good source on whether what they say rings true, in my experience and analysis, or not. I listen to Alexander of the Duran on some subjects but not others. Alex is too young...I listen for the travelogue. I stopped listening to Robert Barnes. Another person full of themselves. I used to listen to Ritter until I could stand it anymore....the same with Johnson....
I don't listen to Sachs because I think that he never has the full picture. We can disagree on that I simply cannot stomach listening to that full-of-himself person...
The Pepe Escobar who is on the Russia today platform ?
Yep
An that would be your unbiased source of information..really ?
You are clueless. Go support the war and be blamed for it when the Government of Isreal drop a nuke on Iran.
Really? That’s an absurd statement
Anything short of complete subversion of American interests for Israeli interests is Jew-hate.
What? Does that even make sense?
Rephrase: complete subversion of American interests for Israeli interests is Jew-hate.
I want US interest to be trumped by Israel interest, therefore I have Jew-hate.
"Fuck Israel" -Matt Taibbi, to Walter Kirn, in 2023
What is next an interview with Tucker Carlson?
Interesting take, Alison. I wasn’t aware of Sachs ties to the CCP. I agree that this conflict as well as the Venezuelan operation are intricately linked to our goals as far as China is concerned, gaining leverage for the April meeting between President Trump and Xi of China. I think there are other concerns at play also, but China is the biggest one, IMHO.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣wow , good joke !
We jews aren’t good at ruling the world but we are very good at preemptive war and indiscriminate killing of citizens. Or what the IDF refers to as “mowing the lawn”. Hopefully people like yourself will make aliyah and go fight for Israel and save the Jewish People.
LOL.
Nah, more like 20 million and that extra 5 is the tipping point!
" I get the sense that Trump never thinks about anything very much. "
I get the sense Jeffrey Sachs is an idiot.
That’s as far as I got. Nothing after that can be trusted.
As soon as I saw he was a Columbia University Prof, I started tuning out...
Was pretty much what I expected.
Orange man bad, etc.
Never heard of this jerk until now but Columbian professor explains everything! WTF!
I also noted that Emily claimed that Bessent “ boasted”. I cut it off when I see that type of bias
She is often sloppy with her words.
Me too. It's such a stupid assumption at this point. The guy has won two presidential elections, if nothing else.
I stopped reading as well.
Right, because Trump is known for carefully thinking things through.
Sachs and Greenwald have a hatred for Israel.
Yah… there’s a lot of people terminally online that have Israel Derangement Syndrome. Just because it benefits Israel, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t benefit Americans and the world in general. They can’t consider the possibility that maybe this whole thing might be a good thing.
Getting rid of Islamic Marxism in the Middle East is a huge benefit in my book. I’m also very glad to see Venezuela and Cuba being freed from crap communism too.
How people can be against removing the subjugation endured by these people is beyond me.
I hope you go down to your local military recruitment office and sign up. Please go and fight the good fight. Save the Iranian people and save America. I’m sure you don’t just talk the talk you walk the walk. Keep us posted when you get to the Middle East and save us. Thank you for enlisting.
Every single one of us tax payers are paying for this war. So we are all doing our part, whether we want to or not.
that's an understatement
Common invective. Common geopolitical responses based on opinions and how he views history. He would be better received if he hadn't told us that the President and the SOW were idiots, basically.
The whole piece was an irrational rant. I have no problem listening to opposing views but rants are very tiring.
Don’t worry Trump has called in Jake Paul to save us.
So, we lose Walter but get a long form interview with Sachs? I’m trying to give Racket a chance to show some relevance and value, but it is losing me. I want Racket to be my primary go to independent news source, but I am not seeing it. Very frustrated.
Agree. Same here.
This was the final straw. I'm out.
I’m definitely shopping. I’d like a place to land before departing, but this is only getting worse. I’m shocked at how tin eared Racket is. Sachs? Who is next? Dan Rather?
I’m sure you can find a place that shares your same views of the world. You are so much smarter than me and I’m sure you will find a choir so you can remain thought less.
"I want Racket to be my primary go to independent news source, but I am not seeing it. Very frustrated."
THIS!!!
Agree
Revolver and Zerohedge websites; Coffee and Covid, and ANDmag Substacks. Given them all a try. None spend their resources analyzing the NYT's articles or clips from Rachele Maddow.
Excellent points. Some of those I don’t know. Looking them up
Walter wasn’t a source of news he was a source of mental ill conspiracy mongering based on whim and fancy.
Ah, so it was you!
Now we know who to block.
Agreed. Ive hoped and waited. I think I’m done now.
Same here
Interesting that Sachs didn't mention the slaughter of Iranian protesters in January by the theocratic dictatorship.
Doesn't fit the narrative.
Say it louder! It’s crazy how left wingers say they hate tyranny but don’t care when someone they perceive as an “oppressed” does some oppression of their own subjects. As if it’s justified to kill people just because they’re protesting hyperinflation. Madness. The left are so fake. It’s why I left the left back in 2020.
Funny how that is, right?
Thank you
Or the October 7th massacre and who financed it!
Yes of course why didn't we think of going to the UN. It's done so many great things and seeks truth and righteous. Thats all we had to do...its as simple as Jeffery says!
Yeah this was a hole in his discussion and a big blindside.
One of the first directives of the UN was to have Truman intercede in Korea. That went well, almost 37k service members dead.
I chortled when I read that.
Iran wants negotiations. They don’t want nukes. It’s against their law. How do I know? They told me so.
Lol. That was the funniest part. Sachs actually believes the Iran govt wants to play nice. I mean how naive or just plain stupid can on be???
He’s an operator, me thinks.
Right. Because his DECADES of geopolitical experience is no match for your "knowledge" on the subject. Get over yourself.
Lol, you mean all that experience that was put into policy?! Not .
Who’s paying Jeffrey is the real question. Racket needs to clear that up first.
US and Israel want to play nice as we can see. Preemptive strikes because we are so nice.
How do YOU know Iran DOES want nukes? Because Netanyahu told you so?
How do you know they want nuclear weapons Netyanhu and Trump say they do? Since 1992 they have been weeks or months away from nuclear weapons. It’s ok that Israel and USA have them. We will never use them - oh wait we already did.
Matt, I can appreciate hearing both sides of a story, but this interview appears to be much more than that. More like One Step Over the Line.....I've been watching closely since your separation from Walter Kirn, and new hires for a new direction.....I am very close to cancelling the Subscription as I feel many others are,,,prove me wrong,,and show both sides of this story,,,Irans state sponsership of terror for 47 years, Irans build up of Nuclear fissile materials, Iran's huge investment in Ballistic Missile technology, Irans crackdown on speech, and Irans slaughter of its own people,,,,tell that story as well as a pro Palestine Columbia perspective...
Same. Not looking for an echo chamber, which Matt has never been. However this piece by Emily (I'm not going to call it an 'interview') was basically a Trump/Hegseth/USA bad/stupid/evil.
I can get that from mainstream media. Instead they've chosen to go to a hotbed of activism, Columbia University, to air a professor's views which aren't particularly thoughtful.
Exactly. Not looking for MSM redux.
So you want Matt to go back to just cracking out owning-the-libs fluff pieces about the Massachusetts state flag?
Got it.
That’s not what he’s saying. This was a softball interview if I’ve ever heard one.
Given that Sachs is not in a position of authority, I’m not sure what kind of interview you expected.
He was interviewed BECAUSE he’s not in the Trump admin and is offering opinions that are not reflected in the corporate media.
If he were an administration official, I would expect the interview to be more hard-hitting.
Also, what specifically should he have been more challenged on? What did he say that was inaccurate vs. what you just don’t want to hear?
I'm glad others are starting to speak up.
That story is being bellowed from the rooftops by the entire corporate media in the United States. You really need Matt to spend his time on that as well?
"They were wanting, above all, negotiations. They were repeatedly insisting we do not want nuclear weapons. It’s against the religious orders, and it is not what we want."
Can someone reconcile this statement with their actions of uranium enrichment? Or is Sachs just a naive idiot?
I'd love to see these 'religious orders' that prohibit annihilation of civilians specifically using nuclear weapons. Clearly their religion doesn't prohibit killing thousands of their own countrymen and women. In fact, don't their religious orders suggest the elimination of infidels worldwide?
I vote “ naive idiot”
You do know that Uranium enrichment is not just used for nuclear weapons but for energy for civilian purposes.
Yes but not 60% enrichment. If they truly were enriching for nuclear energy then 3-5% would be sufficient, as I understand it.
Sachs has very little credibility on any issue. BTW, if DC does have "designs" on Iran regime change-or much more likely, destroying any capability Iran has to fund terrorism globally, not to mention building offensive capability enough to destroy Israel (as they admit in their own words) and supporting people who try terror here, it is precisely what they deserve and we are the only one that can do that. When MAGA and the left both say let's stay out of foreign wars-I agree-and do not support boots on ground-wars that have no impact on the US should be avoided. That is not this. I don't care if Pakistan and India fight, because that will never affect us. Iran impacts us and our allies every single day. That IS America first.
I'll say it again. Jeffrey Sachs can't be dismissed that easily.
He's been right on many things. He had much to do with stabilizing the economies of Eastern Europe after 1989 -- to the point they function better than Western Europe. And he wanted to do the same for Russia, but was prevented by the Clinton Administration.
Disagree with him if you want. But he's no Paul Krugman.
"He was right 37 years ago" is not the endorsement you think it is. If you have to go back that far to find something he was right about you've lost the argument
The argument was he has no credibility on any issue.
And since you just admitted he did 37 years ago, I won the argument. Thanks!
And he was right about something very important. Tell me what you and Brian have that compares. 😂
There's a BBQ place in Murphysboro, Illinois that still has their signs up pronouncing their World Championship barbecue....in 1991.
Which is one more world championship than most BBQ restaurants have got. 😂
Lots of people like BBQ! You should try some.
I was working in some of the same circles as Sachs in the '90s and he did some serious damage to some Central and East European countries after the Wall fell. His austerity measures were too extreme and didn't allow for necessary spending to keep the economies moving. I think at some point even he admitted that his advised courses of actions had real flaws.
I haven't noticed his anti-Trump bias until this article (not that I was paying close attention to him), but I suppose its not surprising. The Ivory Towers have become echo chambers with no escape hatches.
Was he perfect?
No.
Was reversing 50 years of collectivism a problem for which there was no map?
Yes.
Look at the outcomes in Poland, Hungary and the former Czechoslovakia compared to Russia where a bizarre Milton Friedman like approach prevailed, and I think it's clear Sachs and the IMF got more right than wrong.
But in Hungary it took Orban and I believe EU financial help -- I can't remember all the specifics -- to really get the economy on the right track. And I really don't think you can compare any of the Central/East European nations to Russia for many, many reasons. Russia was never going to follow the same path, either politically or economically.
The more I think about it, I'm remembering that Poland scrapped Sachs's plans because they were too severe and creating too much damage to the population.
In retrospect, I think Sachs was using these nations and people as lab rats to try to prove his pet theories. Maybe he learned something from all of it, but at what cost? I think he hurt more than helped.
I find him lacking . His bias can be cut with a chain saw
Look in the mirror.
Can you be specific?
Otherwise your post is like a NY Times column. Petty personal prejudice.
I find him biased. Based on his words. Not too hard?
Specifically which words?
Can you site some?
Not too hard?
🙃
"cite"
Not too hard.
Well, Sachs dismissed Trump easily, who has also been right on many things. Here are just a few:
Telling Germany/EU at the 2018 UN General Assembly that doing a deal/relying on Russia for oil would come back to bite them in the ass later... they still fund Russia in the Russia/Ukraine war!
Trump 1.0 encouraged NATO countries to double their defense spending from 2% GDP (which some were still below) to 4% GDP... had Europe started to increase defense spending and NOT fund Russia through oil deals there might not be a Russia/Ukraine war today.
Trump 1.0 listed the Iran-backed Houthis as a global terrorist organization... A designation Biden removed in 2021 only to re-label them terrorists a couple years later...
Trump has argued against mass migration from the start of his political career (and won two presidential elections largely because of that position) and now in the last several years many Western countries including Denmark, France, Germany, Sweden... are reversing course and instituting stricter immigration laws and increasing deportations after realizing their mass migration policies were more harmful than helpful.
Trump 2.0 came into office and raised concern about China's presence at the Panama Canal, similar to how he raised awareness about Greenland being of strategic importance and the need to ensure China and Russia don't end up with an outsized influence in the region. You may not like how he did it, but people are talking about it now and taking the issue more seriously.
On this topic, he is an ideologue. Better?
How was the domination of Eastern Europe by Soviet Union a feature of the UN which Sachs was pushing.
Sachs is a partisan hack. How's that for using a cliche? He's always been a partisan hack, and he always will be one. He hates Donald Trump. He thinks with the one brain shared by the globalist, communist, and activist monotrons who robotically follow tried and failed geopolitical strategies common in Britian and the EU. He pretends that world leaders listen to him and confide in him. He's a joke. Why anyone would want to elevate his voice is beyond me. What a waste of time and effort, Emily. You are smarter than this.
Couldn't agree more. This interview, imo, was a complete waste of time.
But I don't think she is...and that's troubling, right?
You don't much like the war in Iran? You would prefer for the Iranians to detonate nuclear bombs in Tel Aviv, Washington, and NYC, killing tens of millions? They have said, many times, they will do precisely that just as soon as they can.
I agree. Why do we want to ignore a country that states “death to America.” Like why can’t we take them seriously?
Well, we deposed their democratically elected leader and replaced him with a vicious thug who proceeded to kill a religious leader’s son. I am sick of Israel running America, imagine how they must have felt and then the ushering in of the Islamic revolution, fucking priceless
Utter clueless Boomer take. Boomers believed every war lie in the Middle East and then when the lies are exposed they just cravenly go on about their lives. Can't wait until they are all dead and no one has to hear their brainless takes on politics and Foreign Policy.
Yep, slow learners
I would bet you your house that Isreal is the one who drops a nuke in the Middle East. We are getting closer to that every day and cretins like you who parrot War Lies will be partly to blame.
That's foolish, Israel has no need to nuke anyone when it has so many better tools at its disposal. Nukes would be a very last resort that we're nowhere near contemplating.
I hear they are running out of interceptor missiles and Israelis are trying to flee via the airport but the government cut flights
Just remember the fog of war. Many people make many claims but the actual facts may take awhile to be revealed and confirmed.
Good advice. I am 73 and we have been involved in unjust and unwise conflicts my entire life, so besides other indicators, I’m just going with the odds here
We're? Speaking for the Government of Isreal are you? All they have is everything we gave them and when we hopefully abandon them they will be fucked.
I didn't say "we're" as in I'm an Israel spokesman, I meant it in re the seriousness of the situation.
Your Jew hate is warping your reading skills.
Wrong again, at least you are consistent about being wrong about everything. I don't hate Jews I hate the control the State and Government of Isreal and its lobby have over MY Government. Go Fuck Yourself.
Yes, "Isreal" (lol), a small nation of 10 million, controls the American govt and its military and foreign policy, along w the media, banks, Wall St etc...Did I leave anything out?
People have been claiming for centuries that a cabal of nefarious Jews secretly control every state, bank, business, university, govt, and are the instigators and profiteers of every war. This was already played out in the days of Voltaire and is the same ancient hysteria, mostly rooted in envy and bigotry.
Your hysterical claim of Jewish control is just an old blood libel in a new red-white-and-blue bottle.
But the democrats/Progs tell us Trump is a megalomaniac who doesn't take advice from anyone. Which is it?
Adam - Settle down. Your last sentence completely nullifies everything preceding it. You show yourself to be nothing but a total bundle of seething emotion incapable of rational thought or reason.
"Go Fuck Yourself," or "piece of shit" might seem to you to have a load of intellectual weight, but to everyone else such words are garbage products emanating from a garbage brain.
Dumb Fuck.
Hey, I too enjoyed the Matt and Walter discussions. Walter can be good listening but he also loves the sound of his own voice and to name drop and to constantly interrupt, which was somewhat forgivable for the entertainment and speculation value. I came to despise the democrats after a lifetime of disappointment. I have never cared for trump but was hoping he might rectify the censorship and general malfeasance that happened during covid and keep us out of wars. There I go hoping for things when I am old enough to know better. Circumstances have changed my level of support and my opinions. Perhaps that happened to Matt also. The only time the government gives a rat’s ass about my welfare is when it happens to briefly coincide with what they perceive theirs to be and unless some of you are big donors, you’re in the same boat
the world would be a better place if at least two out of the three were removed from the map
Oh, I’m sure they didn’t mean it….
So Sachs' explanation for why Trump, Netanyahu, Hegseth, and anybody else with decision-making responsibility in Washington and Israel may be failing to see things his way on this issue is that they're all either narcissists, idiots, unhinged and/or delusional? Swell! That clears that up! This is analysis?
What reason at this juncture makes you think they are not? I was all for the no more wars bullshit but the Epstein syndicate is running things for the benefit of Israel and trump’s family’s grift and investment opportunities and possibly some compromat. And Netanyahu and trump are both the sort who would wreck the world rather than be held to account
Statistical improbability for one thing; suspicion of 'analysis' that favours personally abusing debating opponents over relevantly addressing their arguments for another.
The march of folly, Barbara Tuchman wrote a tome about it
Why Matt? What a major letdown. Sachs and Anthony Blinken. 2 peas in a pod.
And people say they don't see Racket's leftist veer.
Except that they disagree on everything. Especially Ukraine.
After losing America This Week and seeing the resulting reports that are to take its place, to say, I’m disappointed would be an understatement. (Not to mention the flooding the site with duplicates of every posting).
But now you have Sachs presented as something other than an antisemitic idiot, I’m thinking seriously about not re-upping my subscription. Matt, your site is going off the rails quickly.
Is this the type of 'journalism' we can expect going forward?
"And I think regardless of what you think about his psychological state, it’s clear that he’s on a sugar high from the decapitation strikes in Venezuela, some of the cartel leaders in Mexico."