Comments on: The Media, Recessions, History and Attitudes

By: Gerry

Gerry — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 18:48:24 +0000

#3 has it right. Simply look around your neighborhood on a weekday. What are all these cars doing parked in driveways and on the streets? Answer: The real unemployment rate must be twice what the official figures state.

By: Rich

Rich — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 05:33:18 +0000

One of the themes of the article was that things turn around over time. Although there is some of that in the media. It seels like some people have forgotten this. Especially when it comes to the 401K. Its amazing how many people are pulling out of the 401K at the worse possible time.

By: Orguy

Orguy — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 00:19:24 +0000

Remember, though, that changes made by both Reagan/Bush and Clinton to the way the unemployment rate is calculated tend to understate current rates of unemployment. If unemployment today were calculated the same way as it was calculated in 1982, the current unemployment rate would be higher.

By: Frank Curmudgeon

Frank Curmudgeon — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 15:10:20 +0000

I think that part of the problem is that print journalism is an area where the economic outlook is particularly grim. Newspaper reporters write articles that accent doom because they are themselves worried that their employers may go belly up at any moment.

By: baselle

baselle — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 03:14:00 +0000

Yes – I thought about this this morning after getting my hit of newspaper article apocalypse. Are these days on an unnatural down, or were we in the last few years on a manic fiscal up?

I think we are about the same age. The times you cite were bad, of course, if you didn’t have a job. But if you did have a job, as I recall people still laughed, had a good time, were kind to their fellow man … they just didn’t bankrupt themselves in the process.