GOP hopeful Herman Cain said on Wednesday that although he failed to foresee the housing bubble and collapse of Lehman Brothers, he wouldn’t miss a downward economic spiral this time, thanks to his economic advisers.
Cain faced questions on MSNBC’s Daily Rundown about an article he wrote in 2005 arguing that the housing bubble wouldn't burst. The former Godfather’s Pizza CEO said he failed to realize “just how bad Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had distorted the housing market.”
Pressed further about a column he wrote just 15 days before the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008 arguing against the idea that President George W. Bush’s economic policies had failed, Cain said, “Yeah, I missed some of these things. I’m not perfect.”
The GOP candidate said he wouldn’t repeat the mistake. “I will have people around me who are going to help me do deeper analyses on some of these things,” he said.
But the only economic adviser he named in Tuesday’s GOP debate was Rich Lowrie, a wealth management consultant from Cleveland, Ohio. The rest, he said, “come from the American people.”
Cain also said it was a “good thing” his economic plan, which consists of a 9 percent national sales tax, flat income tax, and corporate tax, was attacked in the debate. The criticism gave him an opportunity to correct what he said were misperceptions about the plan, which most people will realize would save them money if they just “go through the math,” he said.
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