The Fake Economist Who Conned A Nation  Artur Baptista da Silva,
on Portuguese TV  hide captionArtur Baptista da Silva, on
Portuguese TV  SIC Noticias  The UK Independent writes:
After we read this, we got in touch with Filipe Miranda, a
former Planet Money intern who grew up in Portugal, and whose
family still lives there. Here's Filipe's take:  This guy came
out of nowhere and spent about a month and a half hoodwinking
the Portuguese elite. He was invited to speak at numerous
events. At one of them, he was even introduced by the wife of a
former president.  Apparently, among the few people who
suspected him were members of the police, who were familiar with
him because he had already spend a significant period of time
behind bars.  Despite that — and despite the fake degree and the
complete lack of evidence that he was a coordinator from the UN
or a professor anywhere — he was quoted extensively in Expresso,
a major Portuguese newspaper, and spoke on a panel at the main
Portuguese news channel. No one s