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opinion:
se what
Economic woes
exaggerated
Will everyone please
stop saying that we're headed for a recession?
Everywhere I turn
these days, there's another little clue foreshadowing the
imminent downfall of the U.S. economy.
Wednesday's papers
announced a one-tenth of one percent drop in worker productivity
and then topped the story with headlines like USA Today's
"Worker output plunges."
Excuse me? Since
when is one-tenth of one percent a "plunge?"
As a journalist,
I understand the need to write captivating headlines. But
that doesn't mean it is necessary to scare the masses by throwing
around words like "plunge" or "plummet."
Not that anyone
used "plummet" in the headlines Wednesday. I'm just
saying if they had, it would have been a bad idea.
Perhaps we are
headed for a recession. With the eloquent Bush the Second
on the throne, I wouldn't be too shocked.
Theoretically,
as a Nader-voting socialist, I should want a recession out
of mere spite. At least it would prove to all those smart-ass
republicans that voting with the party is not always a good
thing, especially if it means voting for someone who is living
in the 1950s.
In reality, however,
I don't want a recession (Isn't that a revolutionary statement?
Be still, my heart).
But really, I don't.
It's not good for anyone. Even the republicans lose money.
Their profit margins go down or something.
Apparently, no
one has heard of the phrase "self-fulfilling prophecy."
If we sit around Starbucks and dish about how the economy
is headed for a fall, we're going to go home and maybe save
some money, rather than buying another freakin' Frappuccino.
And then Starbucks
will see a downfall in profits that has nothing to do with
it being too hot in the summer for coffee. Then some economist
will analyze those statistics and decide that if Starbucks
goes, the rest of the world can't be far behind.
So then no one
buys coffee or anything else. And voila ? a full-fledged economic
downturn that is more than just scare tactics made up by sensationalist
media. And us stuck with a president who probably can't even
spell recession.
So stop it! All
of you! Stop predicting that the sky will fall and the world
will end. Because one of these days, it might. And then you'll
be sorry.
Sé J.
Reed is a print journalism major at Cal State Long Beach.
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