Most NYT readers are not experts on economic policy. They do not generally have the time or energy to verify the accuracy of assertions of candidates running for public office. However, virtually all New York Times readers are capable of assessing how truthful someone appears in making their claims to the public. This is why it is extremely unhelpful for the NYT to run an article that purports to tell readers how Senator McCain is "laboring to hit the right note on the economy." The article includes a variety of comments noting various McCain statements, but makes little effort to assess their accuracy apart from telling readers that in his past statements that the fundamentals are sound, "in some ways, given that the recession that many have feared all that time has yet to be officially proclaimed, he has been borne out." Actually, recessions are always officially declared long after they begin. The 2001 recession, which was dated as beginning in March of 2001, was not officially declared until November of 2001. Assuming the same time lag, the National Bureau of Economic Research would not yet have declared a recession even if it had begun in February. It is therefore a considerable stretch to claim that McCain has been in anyway vindicated by the lack of an official declaration. In terms of the likelihood of an official declaration, the private sector has lost jobs every month since December. It has never previously lost jobs for even three consecutive months apart from periods associated with recession. The article concludes by telling readers that: "By the end of the day, the campaign had gone back on offense. ...And Ms. Palin said that Mr. Obama’s 'tax plans really would kill jobs and hurt small businesses and make even today’s bad economy look like the good old days.'" It would have been worth pointing out under President Clinton the economy had tax rates in place that were comparable to those proposed by Senator Obama. On average, the private sector created almost as many jobs in each year of the Clinton administration as it has created during the entire Bush administration. In other words, Governor's Palin claims that Obama's proposed tax increase on the wealthy would destroy jobs has no basis in reality. It would have been worth pointing this fact out to readers.
--Dean Baker
