Great Expectations, Disappointing Results

Investors.com ^ | February 22, 2010 | INVESTORS BUSINESS DAYLY Staff

[Kaslin]

Deficits: The media breathlessly report an "unexpectedly" large increase in unemployment applications with inflation rising "faster than expected." Given the wasteful spending spree we've been on, what do they expect?

The economic gurus at major media outlets such as Reuters are having a dickens of a time explaining why the economy is not responding to the massive doses of monetary steroids we've been injecting.

Last Thursday, after the Labor Department announced that claims for state unemployment benefits increased by 31,000 to 473,000, Reuters reported that the surge was "unexpected." The market, we were told, was looking for 430,000.

We were also told "prices paid at the farm and factory gate rose a faster than expected 1.4% from December after a 0.4% gain in December, as higher gasoline prices and unusually cold temperatures helped boost energy costs." We guess no one expected climate change to be a hoax or lack of drilling to raise prices.

These analysts are shocked — shocked! — that this hopey-changey thing isn't working out. But when you have an economic policy that consists of taking money out of the economy to redistribute, after subtracting government overhead and borrowing the rest from places like China, these numbers should not be "unexpected."

[backhoe]

-Kommander ZerØ--