I Think He Wants to Start Paying Their Stipends in Bahts

Several weeks ago, when Steve Perry took over MinneMoney and restaffed it with his own rhetorical hitmen, I started searching the site for any use of the word "depression". To make sure I culled out those posts that referred to the mental state one experiences when reading MinneMoni, I narrowed the search using the string "depression + economy".

Now, I realize that reading MinneMoni for it's business and economics reporting is kind of like watching CNBC for their gay rodeo coverage. But its always fun to watch reporters partisan hitmen who clearly have no idea what their talking about obviously trying to do their part to talk down the economy. Recessions tend to not be so bad (textbook definition: a minimal increase or a decrease in GDP for 2 or more consecutive quarters) until people who are otherwise doing fine financially, buy into the dire reporting of the supposed "economic hell" we're in and stop spending their money opting for modest but relatively safe returns on CDs or T-bills. That partisan economic retards would blow past calling it a recession straight into pimping the idea that were headed for a depression (which is actually just a recession that's really long, especially severe, or both) at least indicates they understand that much. Or they got Howard Dean's memo. Either way, since the major distinction between a recession and a depression is merely a matter of time and degree, and given that we haven't even met the definition of recession yet, tells you pretty much all you need to know about their motivations.

Oh, and apropos nothing, I saw this story in the New York Times today. Money quote, with my emphasis:

The more Mr. Soros learned about the crisis, the more certain he became that he should rebroadcast his theories. In the book, Mr. Soros, a fierce critic of the Bush administration, faults regulators for allowing the buildup of the housing and mortgage bubbles. He envisions a time, not so distant, when the dollar is no longer the world’s main currency and people will have a harder time borrowing money.

Oh, and then there was this:

Mr. Soros said all aspects of his life — finance, philanthropy, even politics — are driven by reflexivity, which has to do with the feedback loop between people’s understanding of reality and their own actions. Society as a whole could learn from his theory, he said. “To make a contribution to our understanding of reality would be my greatest accomplishment,” he said.

Helping people understand reality is one thing. Creating it out of wholecloth is something much more sinister.

Fake ScaifeNet comments welcome.

UPDATE:

My ThunderJournaling colleague and fellow fartblogger Ryan, puts his finger on the reason why those of us who revere reason wish that Minnesota Monitor had a groin so we could kick it there:

What strikes me about MinMon is the near twittering glee in their writing when they're "reporting" on the nation's possible economic downturn. I mean, it comes across as they're actively rooting for it, for the decline of America. Normal people reading MinMon should be pretty well horrified by the nation-hating bilge being posted there. It's one thing to be anti-Bush, but MinMon seems to be rapturously-awaiting bread lines snaking up the streets.

Bingo.