Back Talk

Clinton and Obama have been crowing about economic woes, demagogueing the issue; you know, blaming Bush and the big bad Republicans. Economics genius Nancy Pelosi suggested extending unemployment term and payments and food stamps, the usual Democrat suggestions that invariably increase unemployment, the deficit, and further damage the Economy. The DemPols and the media – either from partisanship or ignorance – say they “believe” we are in a recession. The technical definition of recession is as a drop in a country's gross domestic product (GDP) for two or more successive quarters, so we either are or we aren’t. Our “economic crisis” is more of a credibility crisis caused largely by the media and congressional Democrats who need the economy as an election issue. The problem is that these things can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. We have weakness in the housing industry, the credit problems, and the weak dollar, and continued increases in congressional spending, but unemployment is still extremely low, productivity is high, and Americans are living better than they ever have. Wall Street analyst Dick Bove wrote that “the worst of the financial crisis may well be behind us.” The stock market is still strong. The dollar on foreign-exchange markets is beginning to go up. Analyst Donald Luskin suggests that “the worst of the future-inflation threat may now be over.” These optimistic analysts may be overlooking the persuasive power of the Democrat politicians and the major media who want to see our economy collapse.