Fear-mongering at the LA Times
According the the LA Times banner headline article today:
“The reason why employers are letting people go is not the traditional reason that employees are costing more than they are bringing in,” said Lee Ohanian, an economist at UCLA.
“It’s the fear factor. The crisis of confidence is having a big impact on employer decisions to hire and invest, and on consumer decisions to purchase. This is the first recession I’ve seen that has that characteristic.”
Where is this fear coming from? We need look no further than the headline on the same article:
Job losses at highest level since 1945
and it isn’t until well past the jump that we are told that this is in absolute numbers in a country with double the population that it had in 1945.
Bogus statistics in scare headlines are pure and simple fear-mongering. If, as the Times says, this recession is driven by fear, what the f— do they think they are doing at the Times? Wake up! Obama won. You can stop now.
Job losses at the LA Times are certainly at a record level. If they’re going to be miserable, why shouldn’t the rest of us?
Comment by Steven Den Beste — 1/10/2009 @ 6:35 pm
Excellent post. I bet it makes Patterico’s Year-in-Review for 2009.
Comment by DRJ — 1/10/2009 @ 11:21 pm
It will. And it’s getting a major plug on the main site.
Comment by Patterico — 1/11/2009 @ 7:35 am
Another example of this is the “worst holiday season in 40 years for retailers” soundbite that’s going around. It implies that sales are at 1968 levels, but really seems to mean worst year-over-year decline in 40 years.
Comment by gp — 1/11/2009 @ 8:30 am
When will the LASlimes be put up for sale like the Seattle P-I or closed in 60 days like the P-I?
Comment by PCD — 1/11/2009 @ 11:05 am
Surely the Times’ reporters don’t think that their job prospects improve as the economy declines?
The Times does offer a good economic service, though — doing the opposite of anything David Lazarus suggests would get the economy back on track in an instant. Lazarus has an unerring instinct for nonsense.
Makes you wonder who they’re letting go.
Comment by Kevin Murphy — 1/11/2009 @ 11:50 am
LAT – Most misleading headlines since the USSR.
Comment by Perfect Sense — 1/11/2009 @ 1:47 pm
Wake up! Obama won. You can stop now.
Unfortunately, that was just the first step.
Comment by Apogee — 1/12/2009 @ 8:34 pm
In giving lectures on investment topics, I have been known to refer to the LA Times business section as Financial Pornography. Even reading the LA Times can be hazardous to your financial health.
Comment by Barsinister — 1/14/2009 @ 9:57 am