Grass is Green, Sky is Blue
The WSJ and the Commerce Department realize what everyone else already knew.
The recession was deeper — and subsequent recovery slower — than the government originally estimated, the Commerce Department said Friday.
Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.
IF you want to get quick and accurate information on the economy, take a survey of bartenders. They get more immediate information and summarize quicker than economists.
Given that everyone at the WSJ and the Commerce Department is currently employed (otherwise they wouldn’t currently be at those places) hteir failure to spot a trend and condition is evidence of the degree of myopia that prevails at those places. Are you familiar with the “Pygmalion Effect”: Things appear as we expect them to be? In social research it had been referred to as the Rosenthal Effect (after the gentleman that first demonstrated said effect): The researchers find what they expect to find. In journalism, if that’s an appropriate categorization for the WSJ, one might describe a similar process as the Heasrt Effect (or possibly the Winchell Wangle): Things are what we say they are.
Seems to me that WS usually does well when everyone else does poorly. By that standard, we never left the Great R. The Official Committee hasn’t ruled yet. So, show me, WH, where’s the proof things are better. No jobs, no sale, no go. Nancy O
Ken,
Looks like your assessment that we never left the recession is slowly coming into vogue. I’ve seen more and more people writing or saying as much in the media the last few weeks.
The grass here in Baltimore is brown–it has exceeded 95 degrees for 21 days this month. The sky may be blue, but it is so hot that no one looks at it anymore.
It is obvious that in my field (tax, transactional/corporate law and estate planning), the recession not only has not ended, but is still deteriorating further. Last year’s law school grads received job offers as practicing lawyers at a rate of less than 20%. Every, and I mean every large firm is laying off associates. The average debt (non-dischargeable, ever) for a law school grad tops $125K. And still the ABA keeps accrediting new schools.
The next generation of graduates, under and post, are going to be unable to pay off their debts, ever, and unless Congress changes the bankruptcy rules, we are going to find highly intelligent high school grads saying “no” to more education. And this will bring our country down. Education has become a Ponzi scheme, and is no longer worth it for ambitious people.
Tax lawyer….I have posted on higher ed. but not for awhile, except maybe progress of the loan industry. Can you e-mail me at angrybearblog@gmail.com?