Unemployment

When CNBC reports the markets are showing signs of fighting back against the coronavirus fallout, you’d think that’d be newsworthy for sister network NBC’s evening news broadcast. Apparently not. CNBC had reported stunning results after the markets closed yesterday. The outlet noted that the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 “posted their best month since the 1980s.” CNBC continued…

It finally happened. A liberal outlet got around to saying this was President Donald Trump’s economy, but only because it’s being wrecked by the Wuhan coronavirus. In an April 29, Politico Playbook PM newsletter, which aggregates top headlines, Politico had this disgusting headline take the #2 spot in its list written in all caps: “PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP’S CORONAVIRUS ECONOMY." 

The Los Angeles Times touted a new media lobbying effort to expand federal ad spending by billions of dollars for local media companies. In a story headlined, “Rocked by coronavirus losses, TV, radio, newspapers seek government ad dollars,” The Times pushed the case for expanded government-funding of media outlets. “Every year the federal government spends around $1 billion in advertising to…

Getting my parents and grandparents to talk about their experiences during the Great Depression and World War II was always difficult. They lived in the pre-Dr. Phil generation before people went public with their deepest thoughts. I have been thinking how they might have responded to the current panic caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. I suspect their reactions would come in ways far different…

The farcical New York Times dealt with the question of re-opening our coronavirus-devastated economy by stoking progressive alarmism about racial and economic “inequality.” The Times published a preposterous story headlined with a false equivalency, “Job or Health? Restarting the Economy Threatens to Worsen Economic Inequality.” Author Jim Tankersley grumbled in the sub-headline that “The…

Liberal New York Times economist Paul Krugman needed to dip into the graveyard of famous newspaper headlines to spit childish hyperbole at Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). Krugman went #PeakWoke at McConnell’s suggestion that states should file for bankruptcy. Ironic that the guy who wrote the Keynesian book “Arguing with Zombies: Economic, Politics, and the Fight for a Better…

Los medios en español de la nación regresaron a su tropo habitual, en esta ocasión al tildar de "antiinmigrante" la orden ejecutiva del presidente Donald Trump que limita la inmigración por 60 días. El propósito de la orden temporal es salvaguardar a la población del COVID-19, y proteger la fuerza laboral estadounidense, pero según Telemundo, la orden solo sirve para angustiar aún más a los…

The nation’s Spanish-language media has fallen back on a familiar trope, smearing President Donald Trump’s executive order limiting immigration for 60 days as “anti-immigrant”. The temporary measure is meant to safeguard the population from COVID-19, and to protect the U.S. labor force, but Telemundo depicts the order as only serving to further anguish the nation's immigrants. 

This week, the price of oil futures collapsed catastrophically. In fact, the prices collapsed into negative territory in the near term. This bizarre situation, prompted by lack of consumer demand and lack of storage facility, led the irrepressible Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., to tweet: "You absolutely love to see it. This along with record low interest rates means it's the right time…

One of the first lessons in an economics class is everything has a cost. That's in stark contrast to lessons in the political arena where politicians talk about free stuff. In our personal lives, decision-making involves weighing costs against benefits. Businessmen make the same calculation if they want to stay in business. It's an entirely different story for politicians running the government…

Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld once cautioned newcomers to learn from those who held the same positions before. “Try to make original mistakes rather than needlessly repeating theirs,” he said. Harry Kazianis should have taken Rumsfeld’s advice before writing this annoying paragraph on April 2: "The rapidly worsening pandemic is shaping up as the defining challenge of the Trump…

Devoid of any responsibility for the wellbeing and livelihoods of the American populous, CBS Evening News spent two consecutive nights chiding President Trump’s urging for parts of the country to eventually reopen, and get the millions of unemployed and hurting Americans back to work. According to them, the Republican Party was more interested in saving the economy than saving lives.

As our national lockdown drags on, Americans seem less and less inclined to move swiftly toward societal reopening. Perhaps that's due to the consistent media focus on the risks of reopening. Perhaps that's also due to the psychological comfort of the status quo: When we've been made to feel safe in our home, it's difficult to leave it. Or perhaps we, as a society, have so fundamentally altered…