Economy

Fred Thompson today blasted the media for propagating a false rumor about his impending withdrawal, while reinforcing the role he has created for himself as the candidate in this race who does not suffer unwelcome questions gladly. Back in Iowa, Thompson famously refused to respond to the debate moderator/school marm's demand for a hand-show on global warming. On this morning's Today, he…

The returns are in for car company sales, both for December and all of 2007 (first figure is December, second is for full year; sources are here, here, and here): - GM: -4.4%, -6.0% - Toyota: -1.7%, +3.1% - Ford: -9%, -11.8% - Chrysler: +2%, -3.1% - Nissan: -2.4%, +4.8% - Honda: flat, +2.8% Toyota is listed second for a reason that would have been almost unthinkable three years ago (bolds are…

The economy is about to dive off a cliff and it's all President George W. Bush's fault, according to The New York Times editorial board. A January 2 Times editorial was pretty pessimistic about the economy in 2008, mocking Bush and forecasting doom. "As 2008 begins, house prices are still skidding, bank losses are still mounting, oil is again flirting with $100 a barrel and consumers are…

Two years ago, Old Media, particularly the New York Times, and quite a few chronic sufferers of Bush Derangement Syndrome (but I repeat myself), attempted to hijack the Sago Mine tragedy in West Virginia before the wakes for the 12 dead miners were even held. They wanted to pin the catastrophe, totally without foundation, on the idea that the administration had created the conditions for the…

Are you a little skeptical when an economist or a financial strategist appears in the MSM, warning for the worst? A look back at the Dec. 25, 2006, “Where to Invest” issue of BusinessWeek gave us a measuring stick to see how frequently cited “experts” shaped up in 2007 – including New York Times regular Ian Shepherdson, Moody’s Economy.com economist Mark Zandi and Standard & Poor’s Chief…

A hard-hitting subscription-only editorial in the Wall Street Journal today needs some reinforcement. That's because Californians relying on Old Media for their news about the Golden State's dire financial situation are being conditioned to believe that only a tax increase will solve the state's problems. The latest offering in that regard is a Field poll covered at the San Jose Mercury News and…

Congressional "Pay-As-You-Go" budgeting translates to perpetually bigger government Originally published on December 21st by Human Events. The New Seal of the Federal GovernmentWant to ensure the growth of government?  Forever?The media does, and they have with Liberals devised the perfect way to do it.  It is the "pay-as-you-go" Congressional budgeting rule -- Pay-Go.  It requires every move…

The media are always trying to find a way to report the bad side of economic news, so it's shouldn't come as a terrible surprise to anyone that they managed to make positive holiday sales growth a bad thing.According to MasterCard SpendingPulse, retail sales were up 3.6 percent during the holiday season - 2.4 percent excluding gas prices. But because it's not as big an increase as recent years…

Does the New York Times let bias creep into its post-Christmas reports on the shopping season just completed? Smart-aleck answer: Is Maureen Dowd obsessed with Dick Cheney? (His name appears in 295 of her columns, all but four appearing during the last seven-plus years. That would be almost 40 Cheney inclusions per year, probably close to half the number of columns she has written during that…

Business & Media Institute Director Dan Gainor appeared on the Fox Business Network December 21, 2007, to discuss the media's coverage of the economy. Full of Christmas spirit, Gainor had kind words for two mainstream reporters."Even in the mainstream media there are people who get it. Looking back this year one of the big stars whose improvement was surprising is CNN's Ali Velshi who…