US treasury secretary tells Greta Thunberg to go study economics

US treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin has said Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg is in no position to give economic advice until she goes to college and comes out with an economics degree.

At a press briefing at the World Economic Forum, Mr Mnuchin took a swipe at the 17-year-old environmental campaigner for her recommendation that the public and private sectors divest from fossil fuels.

When asked how that would affect the US economic model, Mr Mnuchin took a swipe at Ms Thunberg, asking if she was an economist and saying it “was a joke”.

He said that “after she goes and studies economics in college, she can come back and explain that to us”.

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Ms Thunberg launched the school strike movement in her native Sweden in a bid to put pressure on world leaders to step up measures to combat climate change.

She spoke at the Davos gathering of the world elite earlier in the week.

Mr Mnuchin was appointed to his role by US president Donald Trump shortly after his election in 2017.

Mr Trump used his keynote address at the opening of the Davos conference this week to take a swipe at environmental “prophets of doom” as Ms Thunberg looked on.

‘Chill Greta’

After the Swedish schoolgirl was named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year for 2019, Mr Trump tweeted: “Greta must work on her Anger Management problem, then go to a good old fashioned movie with a friend! Chill Greta, Chill!”

The activist responded by updating her Twitter biography to include: “A teenager working on her anger management problem. Currently chilling and watching a good old-fashioned movie with a friend”.

It was not the first time the Republican president took aim at the teenager. Last September, Mr Trump retweeted a clip of Ms Thunberg’s speech to a United Nations climate summit in which she angrily denounced world leaders for failing to tackle climate change by demanding: “How dare you?”

His sarcastic commentary was that “she seems like a very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future. So nice to see!”

The teenager also changed her Twitter biography following that slight to describe herself as “A very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future.”

Ms Thunberg had also been a contender for the Nobel Peace Prize, an honour Mr Trump covets. The businessman received the Time magazine designation in 2016 after he won the US presidential election over Democrat Hillary Clinton. – Additional reporting: Reuters.