Force Fed: The Twitter spokesperson and the new media diet. Annie Lowrey, Slate. Buy Lohan, Sell High: Why is Lindsay Lohan tweeting about the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy? Lindsay Lohan is not generally known for her views on economic policy. But something came over her on Monday night. “Have you guys seen food and gas prices lately?” she tweeted. “U.S. $ will soon be worthless if the Fed keeps printing money!” For context, a link directed Lohan’s followers to the site of the National Inflation Association, a group dedicated to “preparing Americans for hyperinflation.” It is, needless to say, an unconventional position on monetary policy for a Hollywood starlet—or anyone else. Yes, food and gas prices are up, but core inflation has been consistently under the Federal Reserve’s target, despite trillions of dollars of quantitative and qualitative easing and record-low interest rates. But it was a view she was paid to tweet. (A little #ad hash tag tipped readers off, and the organization confirms it paid her.) The National Inflation Association was looking for some good-old, low-brow, high-buzz publicity for its campaign against current monetary policy. And maybe a few people who clicked over from Lohan’s tweet would also look into a few of the penny stocks it was hawking, too. And check out how many people are retweeting it. Strange daze, indeed.

Force Fed: The Twitter spokesperson and the new media diet.

Annie Lowrey, Slate. Buy Lohan, Sell High: Why is Lindsay Lohan tweeting about the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy?

Lindsay Lohan is not generally known for her views on economic policy. But something came over her on Monday night. “Have you guys seen food and gas prices lately?” she tweeted. “U.S. $ will soon be worthless if the Fed keeps printing money!” For context, a link directed Lohan’s followers to the site of the National Inflation Association, a group dedicated to “preparing Americans for hyperinflation.”

It is, needless to say, an unconventional position on monetary policy for a Hollywood starlet—or anyone else. Yes, food and gas prices are up, but core inflation has been consistently under the Federal Reserve’s target, despite trillions of dollars of quantitative and qualitative easing and record-low interest rates. But it was a view she was paid to tweet. (A little #ad hash tag tipped readers off, and the organization confirms it paid her.) The National Inflation Association was looking for some good-old, low-brow, high-buzz publicity for its campaign against current monetary policy. And maybe a few people who clicked over from Lohan’s tweet would also look into a few of the penny stocks it was hawking, too.

And check out how many people are retweeting it.

Strange daze, indeed.

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