I just watched a segment on the market plunge on the Washington NBC affiliate. They noted the decline but then presented the opinions of analysts who told viewers that this is a great buying opportunity for people to get in and make money in the coming year. There were no bears to point out that the economy faces a considerable risk of recession and the market usually falls in a recession, or to point out that the market is currently quite high relative to the economy's trend profit growth path. (The Congressional Budget Office projects that real corporate profits will be lower in 2017 than they were last year.) It would be interesting if investors were allowed to sue over such irresponsble reporting. That way news reports would either have to be more balanced or include a disclaimer along the lines of "we have no idea if the analysis we are presenting on the stsock market makes any sense at all." I would love to see that one on the Lehrer Newshour -- too bad they weren't required to do it back in the 90s.
--Dean Baker
