Dean Baker's Blog, page 428

Japan Does Not Need More Workers

Towards the end of an article that discussed efforts by Japan's government to boost the demand for workers by generating inflation the NYT told readers:

"The country has an aging, shrinking population. It needs more workers."

Umm, no. It does not make sense to say that Japan is suffering from inadequate demand, which means that it has more supply of workers than demand for workers, and then to say it needs more workers. Up is not down.

There is a well-funded effort in the United States to t...

The Campaign to Tame the Debt Continues at the Washington Post

For those of you BTP readers playing a drinking game out there in blogland, take another swig, the Washington Post used the phrase "tame the debt" in yet another budget article. Here it is:

"If there was going to be a deal to tame the nation’s debt, it had to happen now."

Not much to add here. I just will note for those tiring of my deficit projection chart showing the silliness of this out of control debt story, there is also the addition approach that Paul Krugman used in his Monday column....

"Careen Off the So-Called Fiscal Cliff" It's Silly Season at the NYT

Ever since the election the Wall Street gang has been trying to build up scare stories around the budget standoff between the President and the Republican House. The term "fiscal cliff" is a central part of this campaign since it implies that something ominous happens if there is no deal by the end of the year.

As every economist and budget analyst knows, it makes virtually no difference whatsoever if there is a deal 10 days before the end of the year or 10 days after. However if the Wall Str...

Does the Post Have to Say "Tame the Debt" In Every Budget Article?

That's undoubtedly what readers are asking after seeing this strange and inaccurate phrase appear yet again in an article about the latest tax plan Speaker Boehner put forward. Of course it is inaccurate since it implies that debt and deficits have been out of control.

As every budget analyst knows, deficits were actually quite modest until the economy plummeted in 2008 following the collapse of the housing bubble. The deficit in 2007 was just 1.2 percent of GDP. The economy can run deficits...

The Senate Bill Put Its Cutoff at $250,000, Not $1 Million

The Washington Post is having trouble with numbers again. It told readers that the bill passed by the Senate in the summer would restore the Clinton era tax rates on households with incomes over $1 million. Actually the bill would restore Clinton era tax rates on households with incomes over $250,000.

Thanks to Robert Salzberg for calling this to my attention.

NPR Promotes Fear on Budget Standoff

The top of the hour news segment on Morning Edition told listeners that forecasters have predicted that failing to meet the December 31st cutoff on budget negotiations would throw the economy back into recession (sorry, no link). This is not true. The projections for a recession assume that there is no deal on taxes and spending throughout 2013. They did not predict what would happen if it takes a few days or weeks in 2013 to come to an agreement that reversed most of the tax increases and sp...

People With High Income Are Just People With High Income, the Post Doesn't Have to Tell Us They are "Successful"

The Post can't seem to run a simple budget piece without editorializing at every opportunity. Today it referred to the high income people who would be subject to higher tax rates under a new budget deal as "successful." This assertion is only true if the criterion of success is being rich, in which case it would be more appropriate to simply refer to them as "rich." Being successful and being rich may be synonymous to the Post's editors, but that is not necessarily the view of the general pop...

Why Would the NYT Think that Politicians Debate Philosophy?

For some reason the media routinely bring up philosophy in discussions of politicians' actions. This is utterly bizarre. There is no one in national office who got their position based on their philosophical treatises. They gained their positions by appealing to important political constituencies.

The NYT again committed this sin, telling readers in an article on the budget standoff that:

"The two sides are now dickering over price, not philosophical differences, and the numbers are very clos...

Consumer Spending in the U.K. Is High, Not Low

A Washington Post article on the state of the United Kingdom's economy, after it followed the path of austerity advocated by deficit hawks, implied that consumer spending there has been depressed. This is not true.

While the saving rate has risen from the lows hit at the peak of the UK's highest bubble, at 5.3 percent it is still well below the levels that the UK saw before the wealth created by its stock and housing bubbles began to drive consumption in the late 1990s. As is the case with th...

Boehner Wants CUTS to Social Security and Medicare, not "Changes"

For some reason the Washington Post has a hard time accurately reporting the nature of the budget discussions between President Obama and Speaker Boehner. It told readers today:

"In exchange for the higher rates for millionaires, Boehner is demanding changes to federal health and retirement programs, which are projected to be the biggest drivers of future federal borrowing."

Of course Boehner is not looking for random "changes" to these programs, he is looking for "cuts" in the programs. Whil...