AP Continues to Push Bogus 'New Normal' Benchmark For New-Home Sales
The Census Bureau reported today that new-home sales in November came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 490,000. That was a 4.3 percent increase over October, but it only occurred because October was revised steeply downward by 25,000 to 470,000; August and September were also revised slightly downward. Actual sales were 34,000, the highest November figure during the Obama era but lower…
Blogger: Conservatism, Marxism Examples of ‘Rigid Dogma’
New York magazine’s Chait thinks that in a sense, conservatism and Communism aren’t such strange bedfellows when it comes to economic matters. In a Sunday post, Chait categorized “American conservatism” and Marxism as “rigid dogma,” whereas liberalism, he argued, focuses on “data.”
Chait contended that “liberals would abandon, say, new environmental regulations if evidence persuaded them the…
AP Tries to Impress With Expected (i.e., Puny) 'Pickups' in GDP Growth
Today's release from the government on economic growth estimated that the nation's Gross Domestic Product grew at an annual rate of 2.0 percent in the third quarter, a slight downward revision from November's estimate of 2.1 percent. This continues the economy's dismal, worst-since-World War II growth performance since the recession officially ended over six years ago.
But never fear. According…
Russert Frets 'Hope and Change' Did Not Work, Invokes George Wallace
As MSNBC's Chris Matthews appeared on Tuesday's Andrea Mitchell Reports to promote his special on Donald Trump's life, substitute MSNBC host Luke Russert wondered why the "divisions that had ravaged the country" did not go away after President Barack Obama's election because "everybody thought that we were now coming into a post-racial society, that 'hope and change' was going to carry the day…
CNBC Changes Shopping Headline From 'Cut Deep' to 'Can It Be Saved?'
Yesterday, CNBC's Krystina Gustafson opened her article about the state of the Christmas shopping season by reporting that "procrastinators around the U.S. provided a much-needed boost to retailers" last weekend, but that "the lift was likely too little too late to salvage a slow start to the holiday shopping season." The story's headline: "Retailers cut too deep to save the holiday season."…
Steinem: Equal Pay Would Be 'Biggest Economic Stimulus Possible'
Business
According to feminist icon Gloria Steinem, America’s best bet for stimulating the economy isn’t tax cuts or trillions of dollars in spending, but equal pay for women.
In a Dec. 15 interview with Fusion, Steinem claimed that “Equal pay for women of all races would be the biggest economic stimulus the economy could possibly have.” She specifically said it would be “way better” than the last…
Press Exaggerates Nov. Existing-Home Sales Plunge by Ignoring Raw Data
The business press worships at the altar of seasonally adjusted data. Most journalists covering the economy don't even bother looking at raw, not seasonally adjusted data, which in layman's terms is best understood as "what actually happened." As I have shown for nearly a decade, this is often a big mistake.
On the rare occasions when reporters take the initiative to look at the raw data, they…
NY Daily News Posts Black Site's Vid As It Ridicules 'White Meatheads'
Rosalind Brewer is CEO of Sam's Club, the wholesale division of Walmart. Sam's claims that it is "committed to being the most valued membership organization in the world."
Brewer is apparently "committed" to a cause which has become quite a distraction from Sam's core commitment. Last week, she told CNN of a meeting she had with a supplier. Was she interested in getting the best prices and terms…
Video
10 Outrageous Ways the Media Were Anti-Business Activists in 2015
Business
Objective journalism is so old-fashioned. Activism is the new objectivity, at least where the liberal media are concerned.
Rather than reporting as neutral outsiders on matters of race, CNN hosts and guest actually put their hands up in the “Hands up, don’t shoot” pose that never happened while reporting on protests. They seize on mass shootings to repeat calls for stricter gun control.
The sad…
AP's D'Innocenzio Makes Disappointing Online Sales Growth Seem Strong
What little remains of the economy's momentum appears to be riding on Christmas season consumer spending being perceived as strong. Unfortunately, it hasn't been.
Following up on her early Friday excuse-making for why things haven't gone too well at the malls so far — it's because the weather has just been too darned nice — Anne D'Innocenzio at the Associated Press worked over the available…
AP's D'Innocenzio: Now It's Warm Weather Hurting Christmas Sales
They have an excuse for everything, don't they?
This morning, Anne D'Innocenzio at the Associated Press actually told readers that this year's relatively warm Christmas season weather is what's hurting Christmas shopping season sales. It couldn't possibly be the "slowdown reality" USA Today cited in headlining Friday's second straight steep stock market drop, could it, Anne? Most other Americans…
AP Howler: Economy 'Healthy' Because of 'Solid Consumer Spending'
For an understanding of just how weak the business press's understanding of economic fundamentals is, look no further than Paul Wiseman's brief "coverage" at the Associated Press Wednesday of the Federal Reserve's awful Industrial Production.
The Fed reported yesterday that industrial production fell by 0.6 percent in November on top of a revised -0.4 percent (down from -0.2 percent) in October…
Absurd Reuters: Today's Homebuilding News 'Signals Economic Strength'
Reuters and reporter Lucia Mutikani went way overboard today in reacting to today's residential construction news from the Census Bureau.
Mutikani's headline contended that today's "housing data signals economic strength," while a section title claimed that there are "strong housing fundamentals." That can only possibly be true if one believes the world began in 2007.
Blogger: Global-Warming Deniers Are Traitors to the Planet
When it comes to global warming, Esquire’s Charles Pierce implies, it’s now conservative Republicans and a few hidebound Democrats versus pretty much everyone and everything else, including the world’s non-human animals and its plant life. Meanwhile, New York magazine’s Jonathan Chait opined that the Paris climate deal was “probably the [Obama] administration’s most important accomplishment."
