Dean Baker
The American Prospect, June 27, 2018

Junio de 2018, Mark Weisbrot, Lara Merling, Rebecca Watts y Jake Johnston

June 2018, Mark Weisbrot, Lara Merling, Rebecca Watts, and Jake Johnston

It is absolutely bizarre that reporters so often feel the need to tell us what really "concerns" politicians, or what they "believe," or in other ways make assertions about their innermost thoughts. The reality is that these reporters almost certainly do not know the person's innermost thoughts, and in the unlikely event they do, they are probably too close to that person to be reporting on them.

While exercises in mind reading are especially inappropriate with regards to politicians, since their job pretty much demands that they claim positions that they do not hold, they also amount to bad reporting in other contexts. A couple of days ago the NYT ran a piece pointing out the seeming discrepancy between the celebration of the family in public statements while at the same time having the most family unfriendly policies of any rich country.

At one point the piece told readers:

"To the right, it seems government too often burdens families, who need lower taxes and less regulation."

We know people on the right often say this, but is it really the case that it seems to these people that their taxes are too high and they face too much regulation. Imagine a male worker in a non-union auto factory earning $20 an hour. Suppose this person is married to someone working part-time in a retail store. We'll give them an income near the median at $52,000 a year.

June 2018, Dean Baker

Dean Baker
Truthout, June 25, 2018

Dean Baker
The Hankyoreh, June 24, 2018