MSM and the public's view of the economy

Let's do a little one, two, three.

One is the Gallup Organization's latest report on the public's view of the current state of America's economy. Two is some information about the economy. Three looks at influences on the public's view of the current economy.

One: For decades Gallup has asked Americans:

How would you rate economic conditions in this country today -- as excellent, good, only fair, or poor?

Gallup then reports what it calls a Current Economic Situation Index. It obtains the index by adding the number of respondents rating the economy "excellent" or "good" and then subtracting from the excellent/good total the number of respondents rating the economy "poor." The difference is then converted to a precentage which is the index.

For 2000, the last year of the Clinton administration, the index averaged 64%. By 2002 the index had dropped to 10%.

The drop is understandable given that by 2002 the stock market bubble had burst, 9/11 had impacted the economy and the country was just begining to recover from a recession which, although short and shallow by historical standards, the Democratic dominated MSM had described in terms appropriate for the Great Depression.

But since 2002 the country has experienced strong, sustained economic growth. Shouldn't many more Americans be telling Gallup the economy is "excellent" or "good?"

Yes, but it isn't happening.

Gallup's Current Economic Index for 2005 was only 13%, a very slight increase from the 10% reported in 2002; and nowhere near the 64% reported in 2000. In early June Gallup reported the index stood at only 18%.

Now Two: Some information economist Lawrance Kudlow provides today in his Townhall.com column:

Did you know that just over the past 11 quarters, dating back to the June 2003 Bush tax cuts, America has increased the size of its entire economy by 20 percent?

In less than three years, the U.S. economic pie has expanded by $2.2 trillion, an output add-on that is roughly the same size as the total Chinese economy, and much larger than the total economic size of nations like India, Mexico, Ireland and Belgium. (bold added) […]

Since the 2003 tax cuts, tax-revenue collections from the expanding economy have been surging at double-digit rates, while the deficit is constantly being revised downward.

For those who bother to look, the economic power of lower-tax-rate incentives is once again working its magic. While most reporters obsess about a mild slowdown in housing, the big-bang story is a high-sizzle pick-up in private business investment, which is directly traceable to Bush's tax reform. It was private investment that was hardest hit in the early decade stock market plunge and the aftermath of the 9-11 terrorist bombings.

So team Bush's wise men correctly targeted investment in order to slash the after-tax cost of capital and rejuvenate investment incentives.

The move paid off. Investors now keep nearly 50 percent more of their after-tax capital returns -- an enormous increase that has resulted in a remarkably profitable and highly productive business sector. While the overall economy has grown by one-fifth since mid-2003, private business investment has expanded by 37 percent. […]

Wages are rising today, so we know domestic labor markets must be tightening, not softening. To wit, average hourly compensation has risen to 3.9 percent over the past year, while average weekly earnings have grown to 4.5 percent. In early 2004, these wage measures were only up 1.5 percent.

Now Three: With all that economic growth, why isn't Gallup economic index much higher than it is?

Kudlow supplies what I think is a big part of the answer:

Most in the mainstream media would rather tout the faults of American capitalism than sing its praises. And of course, the media will almost always discuss supply-side tax cuts in negative terms, such as big budget deficits and static revenue losses.[...]

[And MSM keeps as a]dirty little secret[the fact]that record low tax rates on capital are leading to continued job and income gains, as businesses continue to expand.[...]

Left leaning media organizations, whether in America or elsewhere, are going to have difficulty reporting on the success of the American economy because such success is a refutation of fundamental leftist beliefs.

But there's another reason why most MSM are having trouble reporting fairly and fully on our economic success: they're afraid President Bush will get much of the credit for the economy's success. So they keep the good news secret.

And that $2.2 trillion add-on to the U.S. economy in the last three years. That's another secret the leftist, Democratic dominated media has kept from us.

Requests to the New York Times and its media kind:

1) Start disclosing wonderful economic news.

2) Stop disclosing national security secrets.
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Post URLs:

http://poll.gallup.com/content/default.aspx?ci=1609&VERSION=p

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/column.aspx?Url
Title=the_big-bang_story_of_us_private_business&ns=LawrenceKudlow&dt=07/08/2006
&page=full&comments=true