I was channel surfing this morning when I came upon MSNBC. They were asking whether the US economy was collapsing. Intrigued, I continued watching, wondering what it was that might be bringing down the strongest economy the world has ever known. And the apocalyptic news was the loss of 4,000 jobs.
Now that is not good news, of course, but it follows four consecutive years of job growth. The US economy has added millions of jobs in recent years. Furthermore, unemployment is at 4.6%, very near historical lows. So the answer is no, the US economy is not collapsing.
Now this is not intended as an econ thread but instead a media bias thread. So I wonder, if the loss of 4,000 jobs prompts MSNBC to ask whether the economy is collapsing, what did they ask when the US economy was generating millions of jobs? Or when tax revenue skyrocketed after the Bush tax cuts? Or when poverty decreases last year?
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4 comments:
You kind'a forgot to mention the part about the government expecting about 112,000 new jobs to be added last quarter, and instead ... there was a loss of 4,000 jobs. In that context, and with the employment numbers apparently impacted by the expanding sub-prime mortgage problems, it's understandable they report a recession might be ahead. It's hard to report a job loss bodes well.
So eric, do you also wonder whether our economy is collapsing?
Me thinks you're reacting more to "Blue Racine" than MSNBC. To answer your question, collapsing no, recession maybe/probably. Widespread credit problems and/or realestate bubbles have done numbers on large economies in the past. The fed commented recently that we would be feeling the impacts of the subprime mortgage fallout for a while.
PS - I think MSNBC tries to provide balance - Scaraborough and Carlson conservative, Mathews middle ground swaying back-and-forth, and Obermann I'm smarter than you liberal.
No, actually I was reacting to MSNBC. They asked if the economy was collapsing. This is absurd. If they asked if we are heading into a recession, I would have had no argument.
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