Pro-Obama media always shocked by bad economic news Read more at the Washington Exa

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  1. Denny Crane

    Denny Crane It's not even loaded! Staff Member Administrator

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    http://washingtonexaminer.com/politics/2011/05/pro-obama-media-always-shocked-bad-economic-news

    By: Michael Barone 05/28/11 8:05 PM

    Unexpectedly!

    As megablogger Glenn Reynolds, aka Instapundit, has noted with amusement, the word "unexpectedly" or variants thereon keep cropping up in mainstream media stories about the economy.

    "New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly climbed," reported CNBC.com May 25.

    "Personal consumption fell," Business Insider reported the same day, "when it was expected to rise."

    "Durable goods declined 3.6 percent last month," Reuters reported May 25, "worse than economists' expectations."

    "Previously owned home sales unexpectedly fall," headlined Bloomberg News May 19.

    "U.S. home construction fell unexpectedly in April," wrote the Wall Street Journal May 18.

    Those examples are all from the last two weeks. Reynolds has been linking to similar items since October 2009.

    Mainstream media may finally be catching up. "The latest economic numbers have not been good," David Leonhardt wrote in the May 26 New York Times. "Another report showed that economic growth at the start of the year was no faster than the Commerce Department initially reported -- 'a real surprise,' said Ian Shepherdson of High Frequency Economics."

    Which raises some questions. As Instapundit reader Gordon Stewart, quoted by Reynolds on May 17, put it, "How many times in a row can something happen unexpectedly before the experts start to, you know, expect it? At some point, shouldn't they be required to state the foundation for their expectations?"
     
    Denny Crane, May 31, 2011
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  2. Denny Crane

    Denny Crane It's not even loaded! Staff Member Administrator

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    Re: Pro-Obama media always shocked by bad economic news Read more at the Washington

    :lol:
     
    Denny Crane, May 31, 2011
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  3. EL PRESIDENTE

    EL PRESIDENTE Username Retired in Honor of Lanny.

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    Re: Pro-Obama media always shocked by bad economic news Read more at the Washington

    analysts wouldn't know preferred stock from live stock.
     
    EL PRESIDENTE, May 31, 2011
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  4. barfo

    barfo triggered obsessive commie pinko boomer maniac Staff Member Global Moderator

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    Re: Pro-Obama media always shocked by bad economic news Read more at the Washington

    Another fairly dishonest opinion piece. Congratulations on finding it, there are so few of these available to choose from.

    The question here is, unexpectedly compared to what? The answer is, unexpectedly compared to what 'the experts' had predicted. Who are the experts that the media relies upon? Depending on which economic indicator it is, it might be a government prediction or a consensus of government and private sector predictions. And mostly, those experts in government aren't in the west wing. It's not likely that Obama spends a lot of time predicting hog belly futures.

    So, is the media in the tank for Obama when they report that the experts predictions were wrong? It's hard to see how that logically follows.

    This might mean that we have lousy economists in this country (ob. joke: is there any other kind?). It doesn't say anything about the media that they reported on the fact that the economists were wrong.

    But given the number of these predictions, it would probably be easy to collect a sample of bad predictions like this, even if the economists erred half the time on the high side and half the time on the low side. And given the basic con-artist nature of this article - pretending it is the media's predictions of the economy that were wrong - it would not surprise me to find that the quotes are rather uh, selective as well.

    barfo
     
    barfo, May 31, 2011
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  5. Denny Crane

    Denny Crane It's not even loaded! Staff Member Administrator

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    Re: Pro-Obama media always shocked by bad economic news Read more at the Washington

    It's clear "liberals" don't understand economics.
     
    Denny Crane, May 31, 2011
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  6. Denny Crane

    Denny Crane It's not even loaded! Staff Member Administrator

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    Re: Pro-Obama media always shocked by bad economic news Read more at the Washington

    Barone's an interesting character. Quoting Wikipedia:

    Michael Barone (born 1944 in Highland Park, Michigan) is an American political analyst, pundit and journalist. He is best known for being the principal author of The Almanac of American Politics, a reference work concerning US governors and federal politicians, and published biennially by National Journal. The Almanac has been called "definitive and essential for anyone writing seriously about campaigns and Congress."[1]

    He wrote for US News and World Report before moving to the Examiner.

    He graduated from Harvard, like the President, and got his law degree from Yale. He worked in government for Democrats.
     
    Denny Crane, May 31, 2011
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  7. barfo

    barfo triggered obsessive commie pinko boomer maniac Staff Member Global Moderator

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    Re: Pro-Obama media always shocked by bad economic news Read more at the Washington

    I think it was the previous president who graduated from Harvard. This one is Columbia, then Harvard Law.

    barfo
     
    barfo, May 31, 2011
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  8. maxiep

    maxiep RIP Dr. Jack

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    Re: Pro-Obama media always shocked by bad economic news Read more at the Washington

    It's not the entire body of economists that are always bowled over by a feather by this unexpectedly negative news. It's the economists that the media relies upon. Those economists are a cottage industry in an of themselves. The reason they use these economists is because of their belief that these neo-Keynsian policies will promote economic growth. When they don't work, it's "unexpected". It will always be "unexpected" when these policies fail, just as it will be "unexpected" when classical economic policies create growth.

    The solution? Find different economists. They're out there, they're just not in places journalists like to look.
     
    maxiep, May 31, 2011
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  9. chris_in_pdx

    chris_in_pdx OLD MAN

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    Re: Pro-Obama media always shocked by bad economic news Read more at the Washington

    That's right, Denny, always the voice of reason. It's clear "conservatives" don't have a fucking brain cell to share between them. See, I can speak in generalities, too!
     
    chris_in_pdx, May 31, 2011
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  10. maxiep

    maxiep RIP Dr. Jack

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    Re: Pro-Obama media always shocked by bad economic news Read more at the Washington

    Generally, left leaning (saltwater) economists are more concerned about how the pie is distributed. Freshwater economists are generally more concerned with the size of the pie. Those different priorities lead them to subscribe different remedies to the same problem.
     
    maxiep, May 31, 2011
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  11. Natebishop3

    Natebishop3 Don't tread on me!

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    Re: Pro-Obama media always shocked by bad economic news Read more at the Washington

    No, Bush was Yale.
     
    Natebishop3, Jun 1, 2011
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  12. barfo

    barfo triggered obsessive commie pinko boomer maniac Staff Member Global Moderator

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    Re: Pro-Obama media always shocked by bad economic news Read more at the Washington

    Yeah, you are right. Well, SOMEBODY must have gone to Harvard, who the hell was it?

    barfo
     
    barfo, Jun 1, 2011
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  13. Natebishop3

    Natebishop3 Don't tread on me!

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    Re: Pro-Obama media always shocked by bad economic news Read more at the Washington

    I guess W did go to Harvard for his masters.

    Some of the others are Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, JFK, and the Adams'.
     
    Natebishop3, Jun 1, 2011
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  14. barfo

    barfo triggered obsessive commie pinko boomer maniac Staff Member Global Moderator

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    Re: Pro-Obama media always shocked by bad economic news Read more at the Washington

    Yes, the Addams Family, that was who I was thinking of. Uncle Fester was one of our greatest presidents.

    barfo
     
    barfo, Jun 1, 2011
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  15. Natebishop3

    Natebishop3 Don't tread on me!

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    Re: Pro-Obama media always shocked by bad economic news Read more at the Washington

    Which one? The original or the movie?
     
    Natebishop3, Jun 1, 2011
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  16. barfo

    barfo triggered obsessive commie pinko boomer maniac Staff Member Global Moderator

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    Re: Pro-Obama media always shocked by bad economic news Read more at the Washington

    The original, of course.

    barfo
     
    barfo, Jun 1, 2011
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  17. Denny Crane

    Denny Crane It's not even loaded! Staff Member Administrator

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    Re: Pro-Obama media always shocked by bad economic news Read more at the Washington


    You missed the thread and article about how lefties failed economics tests.
     
    Denny Crane, Jun 1, 2011
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  18. Denny Crane

    Denny Crane It's not even loaded! Staff Member Administrator

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    Re: Pro-Obama media always shocked by bad economic news Read more at the Washington

    http://www.cnbc.com/id/43239586

    Horror for US Economy as Data Falls off Cliff

    The last month has been a horror show for the U.S. economy, with economic data falling off a cliff, according to Mike Riddell, a fund manager at M&G Investments in London.

    It seems that almost every bit of data about the health of the US economy has disappointed expectations recently," said Riddell, in a note sent to CNBC on Wednesday.

    "US house prices have fallen by more than 5 percent year on year, pending home sales have collapsed and existing home sales disappointed, the trend of improving jobless claims has arrested, first quarter GDP wasn’t revised upwards by the 0.4 percent forecast, durables goods orders shrank, manufacturing surveys from Philadelphia Fed, Richmond Fed and Chicago Fed were all very disappointing."

    "And that’s just in the last week and a bit," said Riddell.

    Pointing to the dramatic turnaround in the Citigroup "Economic Surprise Index" for the United States, Riddell said the tumble in a matter of months to negative from positive is almost as bad as the situation before the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008.
     
    Denny Crane, Jun 2, 2011
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  19. BLAZER PROPHET

    BLAZER PROPHET Well-Known Member

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    Re: Pro-Obama media always shocked by bad economic news Read more at the Washington

    This is a post where you are manly attempting to defend the undefendable. But, it's what people on the extreme edge of their party affiliation do.

    Sorry, barfo, but it's a fail.
     
    BLAZER PROPHET, Jun 2, 2011
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  20. BLAZER PROPHET

    BLAZER PROPHET Well-Known Member

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    Re: Pro-Obama media always shocked by bad economic news Read more at the Washington

    I think Maxie pretty much hit it when he stated that the [liberal] media needs to find new "economists" to garner information from.

    But that's no surprise. The media is predominantly liberal so they use liberal sources. Some media outlets are conservative and use conservative sources. When things don't go the way of their party affiliation, the news is never "as expected".

    But at the end, does it really matter? I mean, it's like the weather. "It unexpectedly rained yesterday". So? The economy is the same way. Some months or years it's better than expected and others worse than expected. I do agree the media uses the wrong experts, but I'm not all so sure it matters a whole lot.
     
    BLAZER PROPHET, Jun 2, 2011
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