A group of economists, including three Nobel prize-winners, is endorsing democrat Art Small in the race against U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley. The economists claim Grassley, a republican, has played a “crucial role in the corrosion of our nation’s finances” and that Grassley has done “serious harm” to the country’s economic future. Grassley says his critics must not be looking at the same economy he’s seeing. Grassley says “Every single economic indicator that we measure the economy by is very positive,” singling out the five-point-four percent unemployment rate and the creation of more than one-million-700-thousand jobs. Grassley says the nation’s economy is, by all counts, rebounding and thriving. Grassley questions the reputation of the economists who are so critical of his role as chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee and of the economy in general. Grassley says “All you gotta’ do is get these guys out of their ivory towers that are backing my opponent, and they need to get out in the real world.” He compares them to George Bush Senior in the 1992 election when he didn’t know what cash register screening devices were. The list of economists backing Small includes Beth Ingram, chair of the University of Iowa’s economics department.
