Suze refers to having caught a "so called financial pundit" on television. She then says that their debt repayment strategy was the "dumbest strategy I've ever heard in my life". Suze declares that there is "one way and one way only to pay down credit card debt". Which is of course her way.
She said that the "so called financial pundit's" advice was to pay the lowest balance first and forget about the interest rates and that will allow you to pay off a card. This plans strategy of paying off small debt quickly is meant to "psychologically make you feel good" but Suze scoffed at that idea. She points out that his strategy means that you'd be paying off a $200 debt at 0% before a $300 debt at 29%. Suze declares that is "just plain wrong". The plan that Suze describes is definitely Dave Ramsey's strategy. While Suze went out of her way not to name him, I think its clear that Ramsey is who she was talking about.
I think there are pro's and con's to each method. Suze is correct that Ramsey's method is not the best mathematically and you'll generally end up paying more interest with his plan. On the other hand I really do think that there is something to Ramsey's strategy to give people psychological boost by knocking off debts one at a time. If the psychological boost of having some small successes initially would be beneficial enough to keep you on target towards your goal then it can be worth paying a little extra interest. As often as not the high balance credit cards will not be lower interest and if they are then it may not be much difference. Except for promotional offers, people usually have similar interest rates on their credit cards rather than wide differences in the rates.
I find it a little amusing that Suze would ridicule the psychological benefit of Ramsey's strategy. It seems that a lot of Suzes advice is based on psycho babble and she seems to enjoy playing amateur psychologist on her show. Suze and Dave both have pretty arrogant "I'm right and people with contrary views are stupid" attitudes and they can both be abrasive with criticism. Maybe Dave will fire back by referring to Suze as a "so called" financial expert too? Childish petty drama is probably good for the ratings.
Dave's debt snowball system is not mathematically optimal. But Suze's disdain for the system is not warranted and the psychological benefits shouldn't be written off.