We've returned to the realm of bad news that lands on us "unexpectedly," as many of us remember so well from the Obama years. It reminds me of the old comic song "It's the Same the Whole World Over," about the poor girl ("pure unstymied was her name") who keeps meeting another man and "again she lost her name."
It's only a mincing step from perpetual amazement to the practice of simply ignoring news that flouts the narrative.
In related news, the AP is shocked, shocked to learn that it was unexpectedly sharing a Gaza building with Hamas. But to be fair, where would it have found the resources to check into such a thing?
It was also noticeable that many reports starting in 2017 and even continuing through the shocks in 2020 came out better than predictions (remember the rebound in the 3rd quarter after the initial plunge in the spring), and revisions to prior period statistics were almost always to the good.
Funny how that happened for four years, and now seems to have reverted.
As to your broader point, it does seem as if there ought to be a point at which one abandons an ideology that produces such reliably bad predictions. "Unexpectedly bad job numbers" combined with "unexpectedly high inflation" is, as you say, just a repeat of what we saw endlessly during the Obama administration. Nor could they believe the numbers Trump was posting during his first three pre-COVID years; it just didn't make sense.
It's really not hard. Government is a drag on the economy, but it is necessary to have a legal framework for resolving disputes and ensuring contracts are honored. It can also be useful for certain kinds of infrastructure projects that private investors might find it difficult to fund, but which can benefit a lot of people at once if funded.
So you do as much of those few things as necessary, accepting the costs of government will pay off in sufficient benefits to justify them. Otherwise, you get it out of the way. Let people make money; it's what they want to do anyway.
My father used to sing all these songs: "She More to Be Pitied Then Censured," "The Salvation Army Song (Throw a Nickel on the Drum)," "My Name It Is Sam Hall," "With 'Er 'Ead Tucked Underneath 'Er Arm," "Always Shun the Fatal Curse of Drink," "The E-ri-ee Canal."
I know an English pub song that is on similar lines to this one that is called "The Pudding Song." It turns on the fact that many traditional English puddings have racy-sounding names like "Roly Poly" or "Spotted Dick." It's technically just a song about pudding, though the crowds enjoy the ambiguity (and it is often accompanied with less-ambiguous limericks).
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It was also noticeable that many reports starting in 2017 and even continuing through the shocks in 2020 came out better than predictions (remember the rebound in the 3rd quarter after the initial plunge in the spring), and revisions to prior period statistics were almost always to the good.
Funny how that happened for four years, and now seems to have reverted.
That is a fun song.
As to your broader point, it does seem as if there ought to be a point at which one abandons an ideology that produces such reliably bad predictions. "Unexpectedly bad job numbers" combined with "unexpectedly high inflation" is, as you say, just a repeat of what we saw endlessly during the Obama administration. Nor could they believe the numbers Trump was posting during his first three pre-COVID years; it just didn't make sense.
It's really not hard. Government is a drag on the economy, but it is necessary to have a legal framework for resolving disputes and ensuring contracts are honored. It can also be useful for certain kinds of infrastructure projects that private investors might find it difficult to fund, but which can benefit a lot of people at once if funded.
So you do as much of those few things as necessary, accepting the costs of government will pay off in sufficient benefits to justify them. Otherwise, you get it out of the way. Let people make money; it's what they want to do anyway.
My father used to sing all these songs: "She More to Be Pitied Then Censured," "The Salvation Army Song (Throw a Nickel on the Drum)," "My Name It Is Sam Hall," "With 'Er 'Ead Tucked Underneath 'Er Arm," "Always Shun the Fatal Curse of Drink," "The E-ri-ee Canal."
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2021/05/dr_fauci_is_finally_unmasked.html
People have finally begin using Ymar talking points, that I made in 2020 February here and elsewhere.
Amazing.
Corona is now a bioweapon? Heh.
I know an English pub song that is on similar lines to this one that is called "The Pudding Song." It turns on the fact that many traditional English puddings have racy-sounding names like "Roly Poly" or "Spotted Dick." It's technically just a song about pudding, though the crowds enjoy the ambiguity (and it is often accompanied with less-ambiguous limericks).
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