Steve Lehto:
On Christmas Eve, 1913, 73 people died in a stampede after a false cry of Fire! at a children's Christmas party in northern Michigan. There was no fire and the event marked the turning point in a bitter labor dispute in a large mining community. Two questions always arise: How could such a thing happen and why has this story not been more widely told in the past 101 years?
Read this amazing story. It's about tragedy, kids, Christmas, the almost forgotten struggle to create a middle class (you think we have it hard today?), and even a bit on the complex history and relationship between law enforcement and the community. It's Christmas, folks.
Be nice to your family, even that crazy uncle, and appreciate what you have.
Here's a leading entry for the worst editorial ever:
“Kaboom! Dow 18K” is the headline atop the Drudge Report. It links to a story on the Bloomberg wire reporting that the Dow Jones Industrial Average “rallied past 18,000 for the first time, after data showed the world’s largest economy grew at the fastest pace since 2003 last quarter.” By 4 p.m. the Dow had gained 64.73 points and hit 18,024, while Standard and Poor’s 500 Index hit a record 2,082.17 and the American economy was expanding at an annualized 5% in the third quarter as, the Bloomberg noted, “consumers and businesses spent more than was previously estimated.”
What the story failed to note is that the value of the Dow — that is, its worth in ounces of gold — is nowhere near a record.
Because if we're not on the gold standard, nothing matters. In any case, here's the best analysis of the editorial I can find:
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahah RT @TheStalwart: Looooooooool
http://t.co/... (via @ReformedBroker and @georgepearkes)
— @jbarro
More politics and policy below the fold.
Conservative Reihan Salam tries to make sense of a possibly booming economy:
So now, with my fingers crossed in the hope that I won’t jinx anything, I’ve started to wonder what a stronger economy might mean for American politics. Throughout the Obama years, Republicans have failed to offer a compelling economic agenda, choosing instead to point to the fact that the economy was not so hot, that unemployment levels were high, and that the federal deficit was eye-poppingly huge. It’s easy to see why the GOP decided to go this route. Americans, like the citizens of most market democracies, believe elected officials have magical powers when it comes to things like GDP growth, unemployment, and inflation. When things go wrong, the president gets the blame. When things go right, he gets the credit. This is despite the fact that the American economy is a complex beast that even our most sophisticated technocrats scarcely understand and the fact that Saudi sheikhs who decide to let the oil flow can have about as big an impact on how much U.S. households spend on Chinese-made tchotchkes this holiday season as a Congress that decides to slash payroll taxes. I’m exaggerating but only slightly.
Danny Vinik:
When Janet Yellen, the chair of the Federal Reserve, took the podium last Wednesday for her quarterly press conference, reporters repeatedly asked how the recent drop in oil prices—and subsequent fall in inflation—will affect the Fed’s policymaking. “Can you also speak to the downdraft we're seeing in inflation now?” the Wall Street Journal’s Jon Hilsenrath asked. A few minutes later, Steve Mufson, of the Washington Post, said, “I was just hoping you could go into a little more detail about the oil effect. Even though you see it as transitory, does that give you a little more room to keep rates low in the next few months?”
These questions hit on a major challenge facing Fed officials: The two economic statistics that they have historically relied upon—the inflation rate and unemployment rate—are no longer accurate indicators for the underlying state of the economy. How officials make policy in light of these developments will have a major impact on whether workers finally see their paychecks rise—or whether wages remain stagnant.
Some of the best charts of 2014, my entry
"This is a shocking chart."
Vox
and others collected by
Joseph Weisenthal:
Ebola interest over time, via how often Googled
Brendan Nyhan:
When will the improving American economy translate into higher approval ratings for President Obama?
It will take time. But if recent trends continue, Mr. Obama’s political standing is likely to strengthen.
The economy is turning upward. Job growth is increasing, as The Upshot’s Neil Irwin has noted, and wage and income growth – which have been largely nonexistent for years – are likely to pick up. The latest estimate shows G.D.P. grew at a rate of 5 percent in the third quarter, the fastest rate since 2003.
Frank Newport:
In short, we have a portrait this year of a public whose evaluation of the president has become immune to substantial ups and downs -- a public whose opinions of the president have settled into a pretty stable low-40% range.
CNN:
Improving views of the economy have helped hike President Barack Obama's approval rating to a 20-month high, a new CNN/ORC poll showed Tuesday, as markets climbed to record levels at news of an economy in overdrive.
More Americans still disapprove of the job Obama is doing as President. But at 48%, Obama's approval rating is at its highest point in CNN polling since May 2013.
So if O hits 51%, will the media have to call him 'popular'? Isn't that like a law, or something?
Merry Christmas, everyone!