Simply pay attention to headlines and first lines of news stories
about the economy (or the war, or anything!). It’s educational! Teach
your children how to compare and contrast by studying how first lines
can make economic news seem either positive or negative, for fun
economics, polling and presidential impact!

Here’s one!

Headline: New jobless claims plunge, retail sales improve.
Sub-header: New jobless claims plunge unexpectedly to 610,000, while
retail sales improve in April

New applications for jobless benefits plunged to the lowest level in
14 weeks, a possible sign that the massive wave of layoffs has peaked.
Still, the number of unemployed workers getting benefits climbed to a
new record.

First line: positive.

Now, let’s look at another news story, this time from 2005:

Headline:
There go 800,000 jobs out the door
Subheader:
UCLA: Housing slump to hit building and finance employment, slow the
economy, but no recession seen.

The expected downturn in the housing market could end up costing
800,000 construction and finance jobs, putting a big dent in economic
growth over the next two years, a report from UCLA said.

First line: Really, really negative. Incredibly negative. Terrifying.

Yes, that’s right, President Bush would have killed for a “first line
positive” on economic stories while he was president; unemployment was
4.8% and tax-revenues were at all-time highs. Instead, during his
presidency, we got, “Economists worry about possible downturns,
despite 3 percent growth in this quarter.”

Fair and honest reporting.

How refreshing to see Newspeak done so effciently.