[econjack]

I'm not saying that the situation isn't bad. What I am saying is that sensationalizing it causes people to retrench for fear of losing their job at the very moment when they need to be out spending. Milton Friedman's concept of Realized Expectations is very real. If enough people think things are going to be bad, they will be bad as businesses limit product expansion and new hires. If the MSM just reported the news without the sensationalism, my guess things would be noticeably better right now.

[nyconse]

Who is going to spend when they might lose their jobs...my husband’s job hangs by a thread...I need a new car, but no way I’m buying one right now.

[ILikeBourbon]

I don't think it's the media, they're just infantile sock-puppets.

The real perps are the asshats in office right now that call nearly everything a “CRISIS!”

People won't spend money when they see Obama rape their paychecks, impose idiot global warming legislation, make GM “Government Motors,” trying to pass card check, and call 60+% of the nation right-wing terrorists.

The plain fact is that it IS bad. Here in Wisconsin we are at around 9% unemployment and climbing. Our useless puke of a governor Diamond Jim Doyle is proposing huge new taxes and fees right in the middle of it, handily driving businesses out of the state, and making us even more of a tax hell. (And that's saying something.)

So, how are people supposed to be spending anything at this time? Even if you didn't hear the sensationalism, businesses would still be closing, our debt would still be rising, and our government would still be stealing from us.

Just my adjective-laden commentary.