05-06-2008, 11:54 AM
[quote Lux Interior]
Who is calling for doom? Saying that we're in a recession is not calling for doom. The economy is bad. It happens. Trying to extrapolate this to "the sky is falling" is just a strawman.
It's a variation on the the point I was making. The whole deal is a strawman. Making a case to prove there's a recession. Or making a case to prove there isn't one. it's an imaginary argument. If it doesn't qualify as a recession according to the definition, then the validity of definition is dismissed. Why? Because the opposing Administration's appointees are in power, and they're distorting the definition by cooking the numbers. But if the favored Administration's appointees are in power, the numbers are accepted, and serve as proof the critics are wrong. It's characteristic of how national economic news is politicized during an election year.
One side is invested in denying, disproving, or minimizing bad economic news. The other side is invested in the opposite, and collect evidence to prove things are bad and getting worse every day. It's a predictable story. If Iraq makes progress, earth's surface temperatures are stable, or economic news appears hopeful, christ, that's "bad". But if Iraq is a hopeless quagmire, the environment is on the brink of disaster, and the economy is horrible and getting worse, that's "good"! There's ample reason to be skeptical on both sides.
Not all economic discussions are politically motivated, I realize that. I admit I'm being cynical because it's an election year. We get an earful from the anti-recession naysayers and pro-recession doomsayers on the news, I shouldn't be surprised that we occasionally see it in here, too. There's two birds in this Fairy Tale, one is Chicken Little, the other is an ostrich. Sky is falling, or head-in-the-sand. Of course there's a pro-doom constituency. No one is calling for actual doom, just the perception of doom. In an election year, perceived doom is a valuable thing to promote!
[quote Lux Interior]A recession is when your neighbor gets laid off. A depression is when you get laid off.
Good one!
Reminds me of this, I thought t was Carl Reiner, but it was Mel...
"Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you walk into an open sewer and die."
--Mel Brooks
Who is calling for doom? Saying that we're in a recession is not calling for doom. The economy is bad. It happens. Trying to extrapolate this to "the sky is falling" is just a strawman.
It's a variation on the the point I was making. The whole deal is a strawman. Making a case to prove there's a recession. Or making a case to prove there isn't one. it's an imaginary argument. If it doesn't qualify as a recession according to the definition, then the validity of definition is dismissed. Why? Because the opposing Administration's appointees are in power, and they're distorting the definition by cooking the numbers. But if the favored Administration's appointees are in power, the numbers are accepted, and serve as proof the critics are wrong. It's characteristic of how national economic news is politicized during an election year.
One side is invested in denying, disproving, or minimizing bad economic news. The other side is invested in the opposite, and collect evidence to prove things are bad and getting worse every day. It's a predictable story. If Iraq makes progress, earth's surface temperatures are stable, or economic news appears hopeful, christ, that's "bad". But if Iraq is a hopeless quagmire, the environment is on the brink of disaster, and the economy is horrible and getting worse, that's "good"! There's ample reason to be skeptical on both sides.
Not all economic discussions are politically motivated, I realize that. I admit I'm being cynical because it's an election year. We get an earful from the anti-recession naysayers and pro-recession doomsayers on the news, I shouldn't be surprised that we occasionally see it in here, too. There's two birds in this Fairy Tale, one is Chicken Little, the other is an ostrich. Sky is falling, or head-in-the-sand. Of course there's a pro-doom constituency. No one is calling for actual doom, just the perception of doom. In an election year, perceived doom is a valuable thing to promote!
[quote Lux Interior]A recession is when your neighbor gets laid off. A depression is when you get laid off.
Good one!
Reminds me of this, I thought t was Carl Reiner, but it was Mel...
"Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you walk into an open sewer and die."
--Mel Brooks