The Media’s Top 10 Economic Myths of 2007

Business & Media Institute ^ | unattributed

[1rudeboy]

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10. Airlines are solely to blame for the unfriendly skies.
Media myth: Blame the airlines for all those flight delays; never mind the obsolete government-run agency creating the gridlock.

9. Consumer spending is the be-all, end-all of the economy.
Media myth: Without excessive consumer spending – especially at Christmastime – the U.S. economy will collapse.

8. The stock market is trouble, whether it goes up or down.
Media myth: One day the stock market can’t sustain growth; the next, we’re just one drop away from another crash.

7. Anyone who ‘denies’ global warming shouldn’t be taken seriously.
Media myth: Global warming could cause a ‘century of fires,’ just as it has created allergies and ended winter fashion. If we don’t do something now (i.e. spend hundreds of billions of dollars), it’s only going to get worse.

6. You’d better not eat/drink that!
Media myth: Forget the right to eat as you please; the nanny-state knows better.

5. Most Americans are losing their homes.
Media myth: Americans everywhere are losing their homes to foreclosure, and the housing bust is going to ruin the economy.

4. “Going Green” is good for America and business.
Media myth: Businesses are much better off if they go green, and that’s what people really want anyway.  

3. Lenders are responsible for everyone’s debts.
Media myth: Drowning in red ink isn’t your fault; blame the guy who loaned you the money.

2. Free health care would be great!
Media myth: To save our children and the 47 million uninsured Americans, and to keep up with the rest of the world, we must have government-run health care.

1. The U.S. Economy is in recession.
Media myth: The U.S. economy is nearly in, or is in, a recession.
 

 

[1rudeboy]

Comprehensive discussion of each at the link above. Worth a look.

[wbill]

I caught this article earlier.

Sent it on to Mrs WBill with the heading "This Article Explains why I Yell at the TV during the news."

Most of the stuff in the article would be old news to Freepers (Global Warming isn't settled?! The economy isn't tanking?!) but maybe it will open a few people's eyes.

[Slapshot68]

The 47 million without insurance numbers has become nauseating. No one ever asks, of those people, who have declined their employers insurance coverage or simply don’t feel like they need it?

For example, my wife has excellent benefits at her job, so I don’t take my health insurance at my work. So am I counted amongst the 47 million?

[gridlock]

10. Airlines are solely to blame for the unfriendly skies. Media myth: Blame the airlines for all those flight delays; never mind the obsolete government-run agency creating the gridlock.

I try really really hard not to take this sort of thing personally...

[Deut28]

They left out one of my favorites: Corporate taxes are paid by Corporations, and consumers feel no impact.

The Dems are making hikes on corporate taxes, especially oil companies, a huge part of their platform, and no one is calling them on it (in debates or MSM).

I would love to hear the Democrat candidates demonstrate their knowledge of corporate economics.

It’s like when my clients complain about paying for certain work related expenses. They never even consider that all I do is bake those expected expenses into my next proposal.

[1rudeboy]

Good point. I used to tell my clients all the time, “Your choice—pay me now, or pay me later.” And your comment about the true nature of corporate taxes is true, I never hear anyone talking about them in that fashion.

[Deut28]

I’ve been in consulting for 10 years, and I’ve only had one client tell me he didn’t worry about gray area expenses because he knew he’d pay for them one way or another.

Of course, that client used to work for my company!

[sauropod]

read

[jiggyboy]

Media myth: Blame the airlines for all those flight delays; never mind the obsolete government-run agency creating the gridlock.

The government forces United to pretend that it has six flights leaving Ohare for the three airports in Silicon Valley alone from 5:30 to 5:35?

[Just A Nobody]

The 47 million without insurance numbers has become nauseating. No one ever asks, of those people.....

How many represent the 30-40 million ILLEGAL alien invaders.

[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

I'd say:

1) The readjustment of the dollar vs. other world currencies is some sort of economic cataclysm and leaves the dollar unprecedentedly "weak".

Reasoning: Why is it that when a car manufacturer cuts its prices, it's considered "aggressive," but when a currency falls with respect to others, it's "weak"?

The "weak" dollar is so "weak" that the chairman of Airbus is complaining he can't compete. [http://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Find-Freedom.htm?At=027041&From=News] And here's a perspective-making chart from Investor's Business Daily that you won't see in the New York Times:



Clearly the anomaly was during the Clinton years, when the "strong" (that is, "strong" as in "uncompetitive" and "flaccid") dollar seems, in retrospect, like a gift to Clinton's fellow Gramsciian socialists, then in power in Europe and struggling with that continent's uncompetitiveness.

That sound you hear is factories being built and workers being hired-- here, for a change.

[Waco]

Free tuition for illegals, free ins. for illegals. Golly, gee whiz, sure is great to be an American ain’t it???

[SierraWasp]

I saw one of these charts posted on FR just a few days ago that showed the dollar dropping sharply during the Reagan administration, soon after the soaring it did during the Carter mal-administration!!!

Whataya think about that??? Everybody I know thought the Reagan years is what kept the economy going all through Bush 41 and even most of the Clinton mal-administration!!!

[dangus]

Quick answer: No. If your wife’s company would pay your medical bills, you are insured.

Among the 47 million without health insurance, however, are most illegal aliens, and even many of their “anchor baby” kids. That’s a quarter of the number right there.

And it is true that many young, healthy people skip insurance coverage, because it’s simply a bad bet. $600 a month for coverage ($7200 per year), because they’ve got to cover costs for all the smokers and gays and gluttons?