Monday, February 09, 2009
Employment and the "Pelosi" graph
Paul Kedrosky takes a hard look at Nancy Pelosi's "seriously flawed" graph comparing employment trends in the current downturn and recessions past. It is a rather compelling example of the devices that politicians and other propagandists use to manipulate data into an argument (they never having learned that one can never derive "what ought" from "what is"). Now, that said, even the intellectually honest graph in the update reveals a pretty serious contraction. So serious, in fact, that one is forced to ask why Pelosi cherry-picked her data in the first place.
5 Comments:
By 
, at
Mon Feb 09, 02:40:00 PM:
The words "Culture of Corruption" come to mind.
By , at
Mon Feb 09, 04:46:00 PM:
She won the election, she makes the reality.
By 
Purple Avenger, at
Mon Feb 09, 06:49:00 PM:
Heh, Nancy has her own Hockey Stick graph.
By Georg Felis, at
Mon Feb 09, 08:12:00 PM:
I'll choose D) Because she wants to raise taxes to such an extraordinary level that people will come begging to her campaign coffers to buy a loophole. (See Danegeld)
By Christopher Chambers, at
Mon Feb 09, 08:12:00 PM:
I'm watching the press conference--the opening statement made by Obama was disgraceful. So full of lies, treachery and African American "jive." LOL
