Free Republic

There's a dirty little secret buried in the monthly employment data. It's a secret so dark, so exquisitely threatening to the financial media industry that those who reveal it risk being expunged from the community like magicians revealing their tricks. The National Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 192,000 jobs were added to the economy in March. The unemployment rate stayed flat at 6.7%. The participation rate rose to 63.2%. Now the dirty secret: none of that actually matters very much. 1.The number itself is simply impossible to measure with any accuracy ... 2.The unemployment rate is irrelevant. ... 3.No...

“One-hundred-and-sixty-six academic economists signed a letter opposing the government bailout. In a commentary, one of those economists said the talk of Armageddon was scaremongering,” NBC “Today” host Matt Lauer said Oct. 1. Cramer said the experts didn’t know what they were talking about. “Today” host Matt Lauer had cited a commentary authored by Jeffrey Miron, the director of undergraduate studies for the Harvard University Department of Economics. “‘The current credit freeze is likely due to Wall Street’s hope of a bailout; bankers will – don’t laugh yet – bankers will not sell their lousy assets for 20 cents on the...