The Spectacle Blog
“New claims for state unemployment aid unexpectedly rose last week, heightening fears the U.S. economic recovery is stalling.”
— Reuters, “Surprise Rise in Jobless Claims Stokes Recovery Worries,” July 1, 2010
Hmmm. As of noon today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at its lowest point in more than eight months, and an analyst says the latest economic data are ”clearly pointing to a double-dip recession.”
Last year, the Obama administration and Democrats in Congress pushed through hundreds of billions of dollars in deficit-funded bailouts and stimulus spending, promising to create 4 million jobs. These policies elicited hosannas and hallelujahs from establishment media. Now the same establishment media tell us that the increasingly evident failure of the Obamanomics agenda is “unexpected.” Unexpected by whom?
“Failure is a foregone conclusion for the Democrats’ economic agenda … Infrastructure ‘investments’? It won’t work. Pump-priming ‘stimulus’ payments? It won’t work. More taxpayer-funded bailouts? It won’t work. Go through the familiar liberal litany of economic prescriptions that Democrats are now suggesting, pick any proposal, and the message is the same: It won’t work.”
— “It Won’t Work,” The American Spectator, December 8, 2008“No amount of presidential persuasion, nor any conceivable quantity of federal spending, can repeal the basic economic law of supply and demand. Thus, if Congress should enact this idiotic “stimulus” — a neo-Keynesian pump-priming venture absurdly overbalanced to the demand side of the equation — nothing is more predictable than its failure to spur real recovery.”
— “It Still Won’t Work,” The American Spectator, February 9, 2009“As if Keynesian theory had not been completely discredited by the ‘stagflation’ crisis of the 1970s, just wait and see what happens now, as unprecedented government deficits siphon already scarce capital supplies away from private-sector investment.”
— “The Fundamentals Still Suck,” The American Spectator, May 4, 2009
The sad reality of journalism is that there is no bonus for being right. More to the point, the people who got it wrong are still as wrong as ever — and they’re still in charge.
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Pete| 7.1.10 @ 12:05PM
It did exactly what it was designed to do: pay off certain people/groups for their votes and increase the federal workforce. I am sure they hoped for a cyclical recovery at the same time but they of course spent too much and killed it. They are increasingly walking a thin line here. Even with the media still suctioned to their backsides, people are starting to believe what they see, not what they are told. This is a good thing.
ncatty| 7.1.10 @ 12:31PM
Those who visit this site regularly know that reductions in spending together with cuts in tax rates will boost economic activity. These issues will be debated more and more in the media and it is important to discuss it with the proper terms. Tax RATES are different from tax CUTS. Reducing the rates spurs activity and generates more tax revenue. Cuts are one time payments, or bribes, and do nothing beyond the very short-term. Let's keep talking about RATES.
Grzmlyk| 7.1.10 @ 3:22PM
Well, you know, Paul Kruman's great grandfather was an old rural veterinarian.
One day, a prominent farmer in Mr. Krugman's village noticed his best plow horse was sluggish, so he called Mr. Krugman, who stopped by the farm.
Krugman took one look at the horse and said, you know, what this horse needs is my special home-remedy tonic. The main ingredient is a special potion I call 'animal spirits,' and trust me: This will work. I've never seen it fail. The only question is the dosage. Given the size of your horse, I'd say about 8 ounces a day ought to do it.
After a week of dutifully dosing the horse, the farmer was alarmed that it was even more sluggish. He called Mr. Krugman again, who came by and noted the horse's worsened condition.
"Well, it looks like I underestimated the dosage. Why don't you raise it to 16 ounces a day and let me know how it goes."
A week later, the horse wouldn't get up and do any work at all, so the farmer called Mr. Krugman again.
"Well, it IS a large horse," he said, noting the animal's obvious deterioration. "I'm certain that 32 ounces of my special elixer a day will have him on his feet and plowing your fields in no time.
Six days later, the farmer went to Krugman's office. Recognizing the farmer, Krugman said, "So, is the spring back in your horse's step?" The farmer replied despondently, "He died yesterday."
Without missing a beat, Krugman said, "Obviously, you should have given him larger doses.
An awkward pause ensued, broken at length by Mr. Krugman. "Nevertheless, you still owe me my fee."
"For what?" said the incredulous farmer. "The horse is dead!"
"Hey, 'animal spirits' don't come cheap, you know. There are other horses out there that will be sick one day. I need to have plenty of elixer for them."
Liberalism is always and everywhere nihilism.
Dave Smith| 7.1.10 @ 3:40PM
Confidence in President Obama's economic remedies fell unexpectedly for the 15th straight month, according to experts.
"It really is a puzzle that a man with no discernible ability to lead; no history of creating anything lasting; and an obdurate insistence on applying reactionary socilaist massive governmenmt ideology, should fail so unexpectedly. I know of absolutely no one who saw this coming." A.N. Expert.
Becky| 7.1.10 @ 4:31PM
The use of the word unexpectdly when discussing disappointing economic news by the press reminds me of the movie "The Princess Bride" where one of the characters keeps using the word "inconceivable", and after about the third time, a second character says to the first something like, "I do not think you know what that word means".
Someone get the msm a dictionary.
Until people have jobs and they are more than temporary, they will not be buying lots of cars and houses. It really is kind of simple. Those that have jobs are not feeling so secure either, especially in the car and housing industries.
Watching the Dem - media partnership is like judging high school intellectual contests. From science fairs to speechmaking, it's all high school level. Some of his phrases drive me nuts and sound like the smart kid in class trying to impress, but not believing what he is saying.
jack | 7.11.10 @ 10:47PM
atching the Dem - media partnership is like judging high school intellectual contests. From science fairs to speechmaking, it's all high school level. Some of his phrases drive me nuts and sound like the smart kid in class trying to impress, but not believing what he is saying.