Reuters covers the economy

The news media have their quirks, among them a tendency to provide weird coverage of the economy, especially where politics overlaps. A story today circulated by Reuters serves as a case in point.

The story begins by addressing the question of whether or not the nation is entering a recession and how that will affect the job of the next president. Author Emily Kaiser correctly notes that economic troubles point toward a growing budget deficit, but she refrains from taking the step of noting that Clinton and Obama have proposed big-spending government programs as part of their respective packages of campaign promises.

The Obama and Clinton campaigns might consider sending thank-you notes in appreciation for that oversight.

Kaiser, does, however note that the populist rhetoric from the left has "raised eyebrows on free-market-loving Wall Street." That's a euphemistic way of saying that their policy proposals make business interests nervous. People who know about the stock market realize nervousness and uncertainty tend to drop stock market prices (that is, the value of the companies represented on the stock market). Kaiser sticks with one example of the populism of the left: protectionism.

The most notable aspect of the story occurs as it jumps from page 1 to page 2 (Web version).

On page one, Kaiser quotes Andrew Bernard, a professor of international economics to the effect that the economy in January '09 is the key question. That leads to this:

If the U.S. economy slips into recession -- which some economists believe it already has -- that would likely strengthen the argument of those who blame global trade for U.S. workers' stagnant wages and the loss of factory jobs. Continued...
(Reuters)

Many in the investment community take a different view. With Clinton and Obama trading barbs over who would be tougher on trade, there are concerns that a Democratic administration would discourage the cross-border flow of money and goods that has helped enrich corporate America and foreign firms.

"I'm hoping that a lot of this (trade talk) is rhetoric, but I think that there are serious economic issues that, if left untackled, will rise up in the form of protectionism and anti-immigration sentiment," Bernard said.

I put the main link under the portion found on the first page. Click on "Continued..." at the end of the first paragraph to access the source of the second page material.

Kaiser goes from her main authority (Bernard) to a statement that "many" economists think the country is already in recession and goes directly from that claim to the idea that global trade is at fault.

Is the entire opinion that of "many" economists or is Kaiser responsible for the opinion that global trade is the source of America's economic ills? The construction of the paragraph suggests the latter. On the next page, we that "many in the investment community" disagree. They apparently believe adopting protectionist policies would not help the situation.

The third paragraph contains the surprise nugget. Bernard, the expert source, shares the concern of the investment community.

Apparently economists agree with the investment community, at least some of the time.

Kaiser appears to have crafted the language in her story to make it appear that her opinion is a mainstream view of economists, but her story provides no evidence in support. She should have considered using an additional expert source who agreed with what is apparently left as her own opinion, nestled in the opinion of "many" that the country is presently in a recession.

At least one loose end to tie up ... is Emily Kaiser an expert on economics?

Emily Kaiser, Economics Correspondent for the Americas, Reuters America
Emily Kaiser joined Reuters in 1996 as a commodities reporter, covering the Chicago Board of Trade grain markets. Four years later, Kaiser moved to London in order to help launch a pan-European stock market reporting team for Reuters. She returned to Chicago in 2002 and was later appointed Reuters’ economics correspondent for the Americas. Kaiser graduated from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and has studied Arabic and Middle Eastern History at the American University in Cairo and at the University of London.
(journalism.columbia.edu)

Short answer: No.

She's a journalist with considerable experience reporting on economic issues. Is that better than having stayed at a Holiday Inn Express?

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