Today, I’m going to diverge from health care to address the tsunami of BS emanating from the media concerning the economy. The major “news” organizations are subjecting the public to a fictional narrative that portrays the economy as bad and getting worse.
In reality, the economy is in far better shape than anyone could have predicted following the collapse of the dot com bubble and the 9-11 attacks. Indeed, it is quite healthy by any rational standard. Here’s how Larry Kudlow sums up the facts:
Calendar year 2007 looks set to produce 3 percent growth in real GDP, nearly 3 percent growth in consumer spending, and over 3 percent growth in after-tax inflation-adjusted incomes. Meanwhile, headline inflation (including food and energy) will have run at 2.5 percent, with only 2 percent core inflation.
In addition, unemployment is now at 5% compared the the 5.8% average jobless rate that prevailed during the fabled Clinton years. And the Dow Jones Average, despite some predictable stock market volatility, is 30% higher than it was at the end of the 1990s.
The establishment media have, of course, studiously ignored all of this. Instead, they have focused their energy on portraying the subprime mortgage burp and a cyclical correction in the housing market as harbingers of economic doom.
This story line is deliberately deceptive and harmful to the country. The media should stop lying about the economy.
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