June 03, 2011
This is the practice at the WSJ when it comes to Republican nonsense on the economy. The Republicans blamed the economy’s weak job performance in May on the deficit and regulations. Is there any coherent story that they can tell on this or does the WSJ not care?
Suppose the Republicans blamed the weak jobs numbers on the Chicago Bulls loss in the NBA semi-finals. Would this also just be repeated without comment. How about if they blamed it on the color purple? Sure, it’s just a he said/she said world.
For the record, if a serious person made this argument then they would back it up with evidence. For example, firms that make longer hiring commitments would be doing less hiring than firms in industries with rapid turnover. (Try to explain the loss of temp jobs in May.) We should also see a big increase in average hours worked, since this does not require any commitment by employers. (We don’t.)
If reporters did their jobs, politicians would actually have to make coherent arguments when they talked about the economy, instead of just saying whatever nonsense advanced their political agenda.
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