Speaking as someone who’s occupation involves developing opinions about other people’s work, the way we approach it is that the workproduct stands on it’s own. None of us are any better than our last piece of work regardless of what kind of work we do. A person can be a genius for the last 30 years but if their latest deal is poorly done then it’s poorly done. Same thing for the idiots. Even an idiot can be right sometimes. A thinking person does not blindly follow – they may trust but they’ll also verify.
It’s good to identify the sources of the information and analyses from the standpoint that it helps to identify any biases that might have affected the work. However, I think the work itself should always be judged on its own strengths and merits. Whatever credibility Rich has or hasn’t developed is based solely on his work, not his qualifications or experience.