John Stossel is Utterly Clueless
John Stossel is another Pervasive Pollyanna of Prosperity.
Read his most recent bensteinery called Dire News from My Colleagues:
"BMI took a novel approach. It compared the economic-news coverage by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post from Oct. 28 to Nov. 3, 1929, around the time of the stock market crash, with the coverage by ABC, CBS and NBC from March 13 to 19 of this year.
"The difference between how the 1929 and 2008 media handled a crisis was profound -- with modern journalists hyping every event." Today's coverage is much more alarmist. In 2008, few reporters pointed out "the differences between today's economy and the nation's darkest economic years, or bothered to note that America is not in a depression."
Here's a newsflash, John: We had a crash equivalent to back then -- the 1929 Dow and the 2000 Nasdaq each lost ~80%. The most recent crash started more than eight years ago, and ended about 5 years ago.
BMI's comparison is is a foolish and ignorant. If you want to compare news coverage, try 1933/34 rather than these two totally incongruous periods.
Stick to exposés of organic vegetables. Markets, media and economics are not your forté . . .
Source:
Dire News from My Colleagues
John Stossel
July 02, 2008
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/07/dire_news_from_my_colleagues.html
~~~
Wednesday, July 02, 2008 | 10:30 PM | Permalink
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Comments
Awesome! Stick it to Stossel.
Posted by: Bob | Jul 2, 2008 10:53:05 PM
Ahh, the rare optimistic libertarian.
I've loved reading these happy predictions in the news for the last two years. When not many know what's going on it's a lot easier to make money.
Posted by: KirkH | Jul 2, 2008 10:56:05 PM
Maybe the newspapers back then weren't very alarmist, but in 1929 the cable news and the blogs were out of control! Talk about wild-eyed...
Posted by: Alex F | Jul 2, 2008 10:58:42 PM
I like the phrase "bensteinery".
What about TV people getting so excited they have a "suzeormanism" ? Not too long since she was banging on about how everyone should get a nice big tax deductible mortgage...
Posted by: leftback | Jul 2, 2008 11:03:34 PM
Too bad. I sort of liked Stossel as he is a fellow Libertarian.
But here's the issue.... And people in the media don't understand this. The media DOES NOT make the trend. The media DOES NOT make anything happen. The media is only REFLECTING the mood of the market. We have gone from a period of bullishness and now we're in a period of bearishness. All the news will now be bearish. Bullish data will be ignored. Bearish news will be highlighted. The media's role is to help herd the sheep into the pen.
We're in a vicious bear market folks. It will not end for awhile. Just stay long PUTS. If you get a rally, get longer PUTS and just say "thank you."
- AT
Posted by: Andy Tabbo | Jul 2, 2008 11:10:18 PM
Stossel is such a tool!
Posted by: dukes | Jul 2, 2008 11:15:53 PM
I guess he doesn't watch Kudlow. Tonight's show was great. That Dennis Kneale always has great rationale for his calls.
If we get a 50bp hike by ECB and/or very weak jobs (I know, birth/death), the dollar will become a smoldering crater. That could easily send oil to $150 in a shortened trading day...then we'll see who is alarmist. In fact, the S&P on just a 5 point gapdown, breaks the March low. Dow down 500 is not out of the question.
Posted by: Steve Barry | Jul 2, 2008 11:27:59 PM
This is John Stossel's career moment. Ah the good ole days.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=zrX9Ca7LSyQ
Posted by: Rob M | Jul 2, 2008 11:30:52 PM
Stossel seems to be suggesting that the media shapes economic reality....That can't be further from the truth.
Posted by: Chris | Jul 2, 2008 11:40:49 PM
You were reading John Stossel? because...?
Next thing ya know you'll be telling us you were watching that clown dude with the money show.
Just say no.
Posted by: Bob A | Jul 3, 2008 12:11:45 AM
Schlemiel, Schlamazel, Stosselfeffer Corporated !!!
Posted by: Douglas Watts | Jul 3, 2008 12:24:32 AM
Stossel also needs to stay away from wrestling - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrX9Ca7LSyQ
PS: Most of those, including Stossel, who claim to be libertarian are really not because, among other problems (including a general ignorance of the relevant literature), they can't seem to detect the difference between license and liberty.
Posted by: Awake! | Jul 3, 2008 12:25:34 AM
bensteinery is correct.
Posted by: Etz | Jul 3, 2008 12:45:12 AM
Stossel's point is good and I'm surprised you don't get it. The press corps during the depression had a long term optimistic perspecitve. And they were proven right. Today's press corp has a naive, pessimistic, anti capitalist, short term, negative worldview. Particularly when the president is a Republican.
~~~
BR: The press was optimistic during the depression?
If you are going to just make shit up, I won't even bother to make fun of you.
Posted by: Robert | Jul 3, 2008 1:01:39 AM
Today's press corp has a naive, pessimistic, anti-capitalist, short term, negative worldview.
You are trying to be humorous, I presume.
Posted by: Douglas Watts | Jul 3, 2008 1:05:41 AM
Don't even get me started on Stossel. He's a complete and utter nitwit.
.
Posted by: VJ | Jul 3, 2008 1:22:18 AM
Today's press corp has a naive, pessimistic, anti-capitalist, short term, negative worldview.
Starting with Mrs Greenspan no doubt
Posted by: Troy | Jul 3, 2008 1:26:32 AM
Time to ask the obvious: *if* the media in 1929 wasn't alarmist, why not? On what planet would non-alarmist coverage be appropriate considering the ensuing drastic reductions in living standards? What planet are these retards from?
I'm not sure what's "wrong" with people like Stossel and Robert (above). But, something *is* wrong.
By the way, I'm more than happy to see Ben Stein's last column on Yahoo. (A dose of long-term bullishness.) I hope he puts his money where his mouth is. Take Ben Stein's money?? Sure! I'll play the home game.
>> Most of those, including Stossel, who claim to be libertarian are really not because, among other problems (including a general ignorance of the relevant literature), they can't seem to detect the difference between license and liberty.
Yes! No doubt you've seen the "pro-pollution" lobby infiltrate libertarian circles, as though externalities and tragedy of the commons are positives. I've seen some smart libertarians fall for this.
I guess we all "fall" for something. Me gotz to figure out my own shortcomings...
Posted by: wunsacon | Jul 3, 2008 1:47:21 AM
Good point, but Barry, please stick to English -- French is not your fort: there is not e or accent on the masculine noun fort.
Regards,
Chas (moi ? Je suis américain!)
Posted by: chas | Jul 3, 2008 2:07:25 AM
"investing less and taking fewer economic risks -- thereby aggravating bad economic conditions."
This is the problem with such inflationary environments, you have to risk your money just to break even against inflation. Why the hell should I have to risk my money damit!
Posted by: - | Jul 3, 2008 3:25:29 AM
Stossel needs to know his history. My grandmother told me the 1929 crash was no big deal at the time. Historians have made it such, but in reality, she said the crash of 1932 was much more severe, and when I checked things out, she was right. This is from Wiki, "The stock market turned upward in early 1930, returning to early 1929 levels by April, though still almost 30 percent below the peak of September 1929."
But with gas hovering near $5 a gallon, food prices going through the roof, and people losing their shirts in the market, I can't believe someone would have the nerve to write, "We are not even in recession."
Even though consumer sentiment is at a multi-decade low we are supposed to rely on bogus government GOP figures. The method used to calculate the rising GDP must be in the same bunker as those WMDs.
Posted by: jz | Jul 3, 2008 3:45:03 AM
jz: "I can't believe someone would have the nerve to write, "We are not even in recession.""
John Stossel is a highly paid media employee. How can he and his friends see anything like a recession? But with declining sales in businesses all over the country, layoffs, and soon to come declines in advertising, John, and his friends, are likely to see some of their numbers unemployed soon. With a further decline in the economy and cuts in salary, we may see them motivated to find out why their rich lives are crumbling. Or so I'm guessing.
Posted by: Ritchie | Jul 3, 2008 4:35:33 AM
Sorry, I can't find eloquence here. Stossel just makes me want to puke.
Posted by: cinefoz | Jul 3, 2008 7:17:53 AM
I used to really like Stossel. Problem is, I'm not so sure he is a libertarian any more, but more of a righty. His meme the past few years has been "the evil media empire." C'mon, give me a break.
And for the record, the right...and Stossel...is setting up this recession (as they did the housing crash) as a media-driven event. If you can't even be intellectually honest, I really don't want to even listen to you.
Posted by: Mr. Obvious | Jul 3, 2008 7:38:46 AM
"...the right...and Stossel...is setting up this recession (as they did the housing crash) as a media-driven event."
And make no mistake, if Obama is unlucky enough to get elected, Stossel, Rush, Fox, et al will immediately begin blaming every aspect of the economy on Obama. The housing crash, the credit market meltdown, the plunge of the dollar, failing banks — all will be laid at the feet of Obama and the Democrats. The legacy of George Bush will be spit-shined, polished, and buffed to a high sheen as he becomes the misunderstood financial and military genius whose brilliant policies were thwarted by the evil liberals who controlled Congress during his entire two terms. Nah, it won't matter one bit that the GOP was in total control for 6 years and were able to completely obstruct during the final 2; remember, Bush dead-enders manufacture their own reality.
And anybody who can state "Today's press corp has a naive, pessimistic, anti-capitalist, short term, negative worldview" has quite obviously not spent one minute watching business shows on that strange glowing box in the corner of his living room. It's the perfect illustration of Stephen Colbert's "reality has a liberal bias."
Posted by: bluestatedon | Jul 3, 2008 8:04:30 AM
