The press always does this. There is a meta narrative that settles into the news coverage and that frames even how journalists look at developments.
There’s very little context, very little attempt to put into a shape and a form and background that gives people a more complete understanding. They just go for the bottom line…
If you think about political journalists, they read each other; they talk to each other a lot. There’s kind of a groupthink about where things are.
Politics, deciding cases, or whatever you find controversial, that’s one thing. Human relations is something different.
Do your job and do it as well as you can, and then maybe somebody will notice, and you’ll get a better job. Maybe they won’t, but at least you’ve done the work.
the country would be better off if we just listen to each other and really hear what someone else has to say, and participate in public life
It’s only by taking that long view, making a commitment to collaboration—and the underlying trust that holds collaborations together—that the miracles actually manifest themselves.
“People have a great misconception in this way: They think the way you solve things by electing the right people…but that isn’t the way you solve things. The way you solve things is by making it politically profitable for the wrong people to do the right things. —Milton Friedman (59m16s)
Of course, on many issues, there is disagreement—even irreconcilable disagreement—over what things are “right”.
Articles for reference:
Abortion
“Dobbs v Jackson” by The Supreme Court of the United States (US Supreme Court, 2022-06-24).
“The morning” by David Leonhardt (The New York Times, 2022-06-27). Subtitled, “After abortion, how is the Supreme Court likely to change American society next?” As Donald Trump repeatedly (and cringely) illustrated, calling someone or a group of people a name doesn’t mean that name is accurate or even relevant. Beware how it biases views and conversation.
“The morning” by Jeanna Smialek (The New York Times, 2022-06-21). Subtitled, “The government’s plan to fight inflation could cost jobs and restrict wage growth.”
“The truth about inflation: Why Milton Friedman was wrong, again” by Blair Fix (Evonomics, 2021-11-24). Just because someone calls something “truth” doesn’t make it so. Or, on the importance of examining hypotheses and arguments. See the comments to the article.
“The strange art of asking people how much inflation they expect” by Josh Zumbrun (The Wall Street Journal, 2022-06-24). Reasons to question the relevance of inflation expectations as recorded by the University of Michigan’s Survey of Consumers, from a preference for round numbers to political bias. The graph of 1-year-ahead inflation expectations by political affiliation encapsulates these biases.
“Comparing past and present inflation” by Marijin A. Bolhuis, Judd N.L. Cramer, Lawrence H. Summers (NBER, 2022-06). Correcting for changes in the CPI measures over time.
“Is recession inevitable? Economist says plenty of tools remain” by Christina Pazzanese (The Harvard Gazette, 2022-06-21). A Q&A with Betsey Stevenson, professor of economics and public policy at the University of Michigan. Dr. Stevenson served as chief economist at the US Department of Labor (2010–2011) and on the Council of Economic Advisers (2013–2015). Compare with the Q&A with Jason Furman from 11 May 2022.
“Your book review: Progress and poverty” by Lars Doucet (Astral Codex Ten, 2021-04-15). A review of (followed by many comments on) Henry George’s famous 1879 book.
“The Biden administration has dropped the ball on vaccine development” by Noah Smith (Noahpinion, 2022-06-26). Wait, do you mean to argue that US presidents* and those in their administration are self-interested, calculating politicians?! (*Not to pick on President Biden in particular.)
“The consumer age turned Americans into gamblers” by David G. Schwartz (Zócalo, 2019-05-02). The title seems incongruous with the article. More apposite, perhaps, would be “Government need and corporate greed: How gambling got its groove back”.
US stocks attracted $14.8 billion in the week to June 15, their sixth consecutive week of additions, according to Bank of America Corp. strategists, who cited EPFR Global data.
“Recession fears surge among CEOs, survey suggests” by Alex Harring, Chip Cutter (The Wall Street Journal, 2022-06-17). Article points to The Conference Board’s C-Suite View. The headline refers to survey responses presented in Figure 5 (page 11). The study surveyed “750 CEOs and C-suite executives globally”. The question was, “When do you expect a recession in your region of major operations (if at all)?” I don’t see in the report an explanation of geographic distribution of responses. In the section titled “About the survey” (page 30), the report notes only that “[t]he sample composition was such that regional breakdowns are less reliable”.
There is this gap between how consumers are viewing this—they’re not as worried as CEOs are. But CEOs are trained to look 12 to 18 months down the line. Most consumers? The next few months, or three to six months, is really what they’re thinking about. —Dana Peterson, Chief Economist at The Conference Board and co-author of the report, as quoted by the WSJ
“How to know when switching jobs could get harder” by Sarah Chaney Cambon (The Wall Street Journal, 2022-06-17). The “signals that economists are watching to gauge labor-market momentum”, according to the article (after each signal, in parentheses, are relevant data series in the Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED), maintained by the St Louis Fed):
labor demand, as measured by job postings, e.g., new job postings on Indeed in the US (IHLCHGNEWUS)
layoffs, as measured by initial jobless claims (ICSA)
wage growth : US private sector (LCEAPR01USM189S), Leisure and hospitality (CES7000000003)
“Plaintext” by Steven Levy (WIRED, 2022-06-17). On AI and sentience.
Other
“The morning” by German Lopez (The New York Times, 2022-06-16). Subtitled, “A small number of blocks often account for most of the gun violence in U.S. cities.”
thegraywolff 