What you wouldn't know from reading the news: There's a soaring economic recovery roaring in
The news industry, which is supposedly in the business of reporting the news, something any gossip girl can do, is having trouble reporting the news.
Here are the headlines out from CNN all dated this week as the stock market hit new highs and a blowout jobs number signaled a V-shaped economic recovery:
The US economy created 4.8 million jobs in June. But that's not the whole story
Unemployment rate won't recover for the next decade, CBO projects
The economy is falling apart but Wall Street had its best quarter in decades
These are the American workers who will see the slowest wage growth
Now let's move over to the New York Times:
Under Trump, COBID-19 Spreads While the Economy Stalls
Congress Eyes More Spending as Virus Cases Surge and Economy Struggles
In the Covid-19 Economy, You Can Have a Kid or a Job. You Can't Have Both.
With Much of the World's Economy Slowed Down, Green Energy Powers On
U.S. Added Nearly 5 Million Jobs in June
The 'Rocket Ship' Economic Recovery Is Crashing
After June Job Gains, Still a 'Deep Hole,' and New Worries
These are the results of actual Google searches with the keywords "economy" and the selected news agency.
Look at that amazing doom and gloom — lots of "yes but," lots of bad news for suburban women — from slow wage growth to not being able to get a babysitter. Big doom-and-gloom forecasts from a government agency that's gotten it wrong every time. Lots of loaded language — "deep hole," "struggles," "stalls," "falling apart," "won't recover." Oh, and a snipe at the stock market and a little plug for green energy, which is supposed to make us slaver for a Joe Biden presidency.
The actual news is buried in that bland, contextless, vanilla fifth headline in the New York Times, "U.S. Added Nearly 5 Million Jobs in June," signaling a powerful economic recovery underway.
Seriously, five million jobs? When was the last time you saw figures like that? Typical jobs additions in a good month have figures around 100,000 or 300,000. I know this; I've covered markets for years.
There's even more, this from Fox Business:
Stocks wrap winning week as job creation roars back in June
This from Investor's Business Daily (subscription item):
The Big Picture: Nasdaq Hits Record High On Jobs Report; Tesla Surges
And here is President Trump's comment:
HISTORIC JOBS NUMBERS! #MAGA pic.twitter.com/ncAkWV0D2c
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 2, 2020
What we are seeing here is textbook media bias. There's a common perception out there that the financial press is less corrupted than the mainstream press, but that's clearly rubbish — some of the most biased press you'll ever read comes from this quarter.
What they're doing is obvious, too. They're trying to shift public sentiment into the dumps as the stellar news just keeps rolling in. Everyone is supposed to think jobs are a thing of the past, the economy is crashing, the news is all bad, and President Trump has failed the American worker.
Yet they're having an increasingly hard time of it, given the rise in the employment numbers, coupled with the enactment of a new trade agreement to replace NAFTA. Those factors, combined with an observation from former NYSE chairman and CEO Dick Grasso (a guy the market pays attention to) that COVID is well on its way to being conquered, point to a return of the good times that made the public adores the president and put President Trump on solid track toward re-election. And one important note, given that the innumerate press is bringing it up: that stock market rise isn't coming out of nowhere. It's not a richie-rich guy thing that benefits just a few people; it's a leading indicator of where the economy is going. Investors aren't going to lay their money down on companies doing innovative and useful things unless they're convinced these companies are going to grow and profit. When the wind blows to suggest that yes, they're laying good money down, it's because they see something good coming in the picture.
It's arguable at this point what it is, but a reasonable guess based on how they have acted in the past is that they're forecasting a Trump blowout victory. Good economy = Trump economy; that's a given everyone not in thrall to CNN's ridiculous advice is going to take. Are Joe Biden's tax hikes and greenie shutdowns of vast sectors of the economy going to trigger any kind of stock market rally? Not on your life, and everyone who cares about money knows it.
That also explains the desperate media effort to use all of its creative energy to downplay the strength of the economy. The "yes buts," the "won't recovers," the "stalls" and "struggles."
They're making it up. And they're doing this because they too know what a good economy means for Trump's re-election prospects. They suffer no consequences for bad predictions, so they have every incentive to keep making up the fake stuff to advance their agenda. This is true fake news. Nobody with a brain should pay one whit of attention to it because it's complete garbage, having all the value of a Paul Krugman stock tip.
Image credit: Twitter screen shot.