Does it ever seem to you that the press, in reporting economic news, just throws out the numbers and gets a few quotes and that nobody ever thinks about the implications of what they're writing?
The Associated Press, last Friday, reporting on the ominous implications of weak consumer spending:
Consumers battered by weak income growth and rising inflation trimmed their spending sharply in August. But analysts said a consumer confidence rebound in September should limit damage to the economy.
The Commerce Department reported Friday that consumer spending edged up just 0.1 percent in August after a much stronger 0.8 percent rise in July.
The Associated Press, in January, reporting on the ominous implications of too much consumer spending:
Americans are spending everything they're making and more, pushing the national savings rate to the lowest point since the Great Depression.
Soaring home prices apparently have convinced people they don't have to worry about saving, a belief that could be seriously tested as 78 million baby boomers begin to retire.
Some commentators have wondered why consumer confidence is so low given the jobless rate, the performance of the Dow and many other indications that the economy is robust. Perhaps it's because the people we rely on to tell us about the economy don't have a clue about the subject matter.
(Encountered on Best of the Web)
