Straight poop on the economy...

... from Don Surber:

The misery index is now at 8.

Democrats want to portray this as the worst economy since Herbert Hoover was president.

Unfortunately, the economy is not cooperating.

Unemployment dropped to 5.0% last month.

And inflation is at 3%.

Under the Misery Index, that’s pretty much the sign of a good economy.

It was 22 in June 1980 when Jimmy Carter was president. Inflation was 14.38% that month and unemployment was 7.6%.

AP ignored all that in its report today on inflation, settling instead on this lead:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Inflation pressures eased a bit in April despite the biggest jump in food prices in 18 years.

The Labor Department reported Wednesday that consumer prices edged up 0.2 percent last month, compared to a 0.3 percent rise in March.

Yea, that jump in food was terrible. Why a nation suffering what the CDC calls an “epidemic of obesity” might have to cut back on eating. It took AP 14 paragraphs to give the information that should have been in the lead:

So far this year, overall inflation is rising at an annual rate of 3 percent, down from a 4.1 percent increase for all of 2007. Core inflation, excluding energy and food, is up at an annual rate of 1.8 percent in the first four months of this year, compared with a 2.4 percent increase for all of 2007.

Do pass this on.

 

Comments

[salvage]

You go to a doctor's office, he looks at his chart, looks at you and says:

"Well the tests are in, your cholesterol is great, your blood pressure is good and the x-rays show no broken bones."

"Uh that's great doc, um... about the cancer?"

"Oh, well if we don't talk about it, it's not a problem is it?"

Surber (who is as smart as he looks) seems to be ignoring other economic factors and the reality that people who do know what they're talking about? Y'know economists and the like? They're saying something different because they do include those other factors in their economic health observations.

[tim]

Hmm..

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121068163716188223.html?mod=djemTAR

The Wall Street Journal

Recession? Not So Fast, Say Some

A funny thing happened to the economy on its way to recession: It's taken a detour.
That, at least, is the view of a growing number of economists -- including some who not long ago were saying a recession was all but inevitable. They note that stock and credit markets have steadily improved since the Federal Reserve intervened to keep Bear Stearns Cos. from bankruptcy in early March, while a series of economic reports have been stronger than expected.
Economists also cite swift policy responses, including a sharp reduction in interest rates by the Fed -- to 2% from 5.25% last September -- and the distribution of fiscal-stimulus checks to millions of Americans, as factors possibly easing the downturn.
"A couple months ago it seemed like we were on the abyss," said Jay Bryson, global economist with Wachovia Corp., referring to the seizing up of credit markets and the collapse of Bear Stearns. "Things have changed....The numbers we've seen recently haven't been as bad as we were led to believe just a few months ago."
Wachovia now puts the odds of recession at 45%, down from 90% in April, and expects growth in gross domestic product of 0.6% at an annual rate in the first and second quarters of this year, followed by 1.2% growth in the third and fourth quarters. While he doesn't expect a recession, he says growth will be very weak through next year.

(…)

In February, Global Insight joined Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, UBS and Merrill Lynch in declaring the U.S. to be in recession. Now, Global Insight's Brian Bethune says that while the firm is still forecasting a recession, "it's conceivable we could avoid it," thanks to "the massive policy response we've seen" since he and others began warning about the risks facing the U.S. economy.
Bruce Kasman, chief economist at J.P. Morgan, said while earlier this year it seemed like momentum was carrying the economy into a clear recession, there's only "a slightly better than even chance" of a recession now. "Even though there are meaningful drags from the credit crisis and energy costs, the economy is showing resiliency," he said.

(…)

John Lonski, Moody's chief economist, said recent labor market data and signs the credit crunch is easing on Wall Street have made him less gloomy than he was a few months ago. In the latest WSJ.com survey of economists, conducted in May, he said the likelihood of a recession was 60% -- down from the 90% he predicted in the April survey.
"Recent evidence suggests there's a chance the economy might stabilize before this summer," he said. On average, the 55 economists in the survey, conducted earlier this month, said the likelihood of a recession was 62.7%, down from 70%.

(…)

Even Alan Greenspan, who in early April said the U.S. was in the "throes of recession" and is going through the "most wrenching" crisis since World War II, has more recently toned down the warnings, saying the U.S. is in an "awfully pale recession." George Soros, who has long argued the U.S. is headed for a major crisis, also recently remarked that the "acute phase" of the crisis has now passed.

To be sure, even economists who are becoming more upbeat say the U.S. may be in for a period of protracted sluggish growth.

[Rick]

Isn't interesting how sane people substantiate their opinions?

And insane people don't?

[salvage]

I love how on the right hand of my screen is an ad for PajamasMedia showing MSM logos being swept away and yet if something in the MSM jibes with your delusion it suddenly becomes not only relevant but authoritative.

"A pale recession" is like a minor pregnancy.

Once again they lie at your face, they contradict themselves at every turn and spin like dervishes for instance:

>The said the likelihood of a recession was 60% -- down from the 90% he predicted in

What does that mean exactly? Economies are not roulette wheels that may or may not pay off depending on chance.

From high oil and interest rates to housing to the insane amount of debt both federal and personal there is much to be concerned over with the economy.

And that is thanks much in part to your Dear Leader.

Although I have to admit the low American dollar has saved me a bit.

[Morgan K Freeberg]

"A pale recession" is like a minor pregnancy.

Er...no, it isn't. A pregnancy is an either-or...oh, nevermind. I guess this just isn't your medium. You're all about "the tone of voice decides everything" and you've got no idea how foolish you come across here.

It's like that blond-joke -- "Silly Sally went to the doctor and the doctor told Silly Sally she was pregnant, and Silly Sally laughed, and laughed...Silly doctor! She wasn't married!"