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Yup: the Media done it, caused economic gloom [1]

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Date: 2024-01-13  

The state of the American economy is, well, really great if not fabulous. Unemployment is at all time lows, GPD is doing well, the stock market is booming, wages are up and inflation is diminishing. But Americans don’t see it or won’t see it. Why is that one wonders? Maybe it is because just about every effing media report on the economy emphasizes the negative, or buries the good news with a “but”.

The current issue of The Atlantic has a piece that proves this; here is the link (paywall): Is Economic Pessimism the Media’s Fault?

Here are a few key excerpts:

The jobs report released last October was a thing of beauty. Over the previous month, the U.S. economy had added 336,000 jobs. It was one of the largest gains of the year and nearly double the amount that most analysts had expected—the kind of numbers that traditionally might occasion some celebratory champagne-popping. Here’s how the press covered it: “Jobs Gains Surge, Troubling News for the Federal Reserve,” read a New York Times headline. “Don’t Get Too Comfortable With a Good Job Market,” warned The Wall Street Journal. “September Jobs Report May Be Last Good One Before Sharp Slowdown,” according to Bloomberg.

And:

This shift may help explain why the American public has been so down on an economy that by most measures is incredibly healthy. Some of that clearly stems from the fact that prices remain well above their pre-pandemic levels, even as the rate of inflation has gotten back under control. But a purely economic analysis can’t fully explain the disconnect. For one, many Americans appear misinformed about what’s actually happening in the economy. In a recent survey, six in 10 respondents said they felt that the U.S. economy was in a recession (it isn’t); in another, 90 percent said that prices have risen faster than wages this year (they haven’t). People’s feelings about the national economy also appear disconnected from their own experience of it. Americans are currently spending as if the economy is booming, and twice as many say that their local economy is on the right track compared with those who say the same about the national economy.

That last line that I highlighted is a real tell: since what Americans experience in their own lives is a good economy, they can only believe the national economy is bad because the media tells them that. But if most people think their local economy is good, then it actually is good nationally. Now that’s a story AP.

And finally, some good indications:

That pressure may finally be easing up. The San Francisco Fed’s Daily News Sentiment Index has been steadily rising since October and is currently at its highest point since early 2021, before inflation began taking off. “Robust U.S. Job Growth in November Is the Latest Sign of a Durable Economy,” read a December headline on the New York Times home page after the economy added 200,000 jobs. That month, consumer sentiment rose so suddenly that it reversed the declines of the previous four months. That seems like, well, good news.

Yet, it is pretty easy to still see good news turned into bad news even this week. Here are couple of headlines from this week:

AP: US inflation edges up, fueled by food and housing prices, but many other costs rise only mildly

U.S.News: Slowing Inflation Suggests That Biden's Policies Are Helping, but American Voters Are Still Hurting

Come on media, tell us the truth straight up. This is damaging to our nation, as it can only lead to bad policy, as politicians will be driven to fix that which ain’t broke. If Repubs get back into power because the Biden economy is so “bad”, they will only make it worse with another round of corporate and wealthy tax cuts and more deregulation.

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