This is news? Does CNN think this is the first time that the basic market forces of supply and demand have acted? Rising prices are supposed to lower demand to meet supply, by definition. I thought of a few other things CNN could report on in similar dog-bites-man manner:
- Sun Rises in East
- Katrina Photos Show Counter-clockwise Spin
- Howard Dean Declares Bush Bad for America
- Thrown Ball Follows Near Perfect Parabolic Arc As It Drops
7 comments:
Ahem!
In the northern hemisphere, hurricanes spin anti-clockwise. That's why so much storm damage happened in Mississippi, EAST of landfall.
As for CNN, there really is a useful news item there, if badly stated. Demand for gasoline has finally reached an elastic point. Until recently, price increases didn't have much effect on demand. People still had to get to work, so they bought gasoline anyway. Demand was inelastic and didn't respond much to price changes. The price point where demand becomes elastic is news.
OK, I fixed the "headline" for the Katrina photos. The funny thing is that I wanted to make sure I was getting it right, so I looked on the web to be sure, and found an article on Discovery Online, here:
http://www.discovery.com/area/skinnyon/skinnyon970523/skinny1.html
That one seems pretty clear about the Coriolis effect spin things clockwise in the northern hemisphere, so doubting my own recollection, I wrote it as clockwise. Oops!
Your (anonymous) point about price is well taken, but CNN could have stated it well, don't you think?
"CNN could have stated it well"
My knee-jerk reaction is, "Of course. They should have reported the 'real' news about price elasticity".
But I just read your post about questioning assumptions. So I did.
Elasticity is not a simple concept. Supply/demand interaction, excluding elasticity, IS pretty simple, even obvious. (Now there we have a RED FLAG!) So what are the assumptions here?
* CNN reports the news
* General media can afford subtlety
* People care about precision
* I can explain myself
* ... and so forth
OK, so it didn't take me long to explain demand elasticity. Shouldn't that convince CNN?
More assumptions:
* CNN reporter got the point
* CNN decided the public wouldn't
A quick cost/benefit analysis of getting it right is likely to mitigate against precision. Bloody hell. What's to do?
I read "The Economist" instead of watching CNN, but that doesn't help the chattering classes. Can you, or we, solve the underlying problem, mate? Which involves another assumption: hope exists.
My assumption:
Anonomous has an accent, which made reading his comments all the more entertaining. My evidence is the use of "mate" and "bloody hell" in the text.
I'm like sherlock bloody holmes!
Unless, of course, those are written affectations that aren't really a natural part of a guy born in Texas.
I'm at an advantage in that I know most of the people who seem to read my blog, know of one that adds such things to his writing, and happens to both read The Economist and is keen to question assumptions like "hope exists."
Why he wants to remain anonymous, I don't know, but I'll go ahead and respect that.
Back on the original topic, I think that news stations are so desperate for news to fill those hours that it barely has to even be news, much less correct, to make it on the air.
Another example that's real that I see pretty regularly is something along the lines of "Prison Populations Rise Despite Falling Crime Rates." No thought seems to be spent on the idea that crime rates are likely to fall if more criminals are going to prison. It's about delivering potential news, not figuring out what's really going on and reporting that.
Unless, of course, those are written affectations that aren't really a natural part of a guy born in Texas.
...
Why he wants to remain anonymous, I don't know, but I'll go ahead and respect that.
My goodness. Suspicious minds. Why anonymous?
There is the saying that "happiness is an Okie going south with a Texan under each arm."
And then there is the company one might keep there. Sugarland, TX is famous for three things:
1. Texas state prison
2. Horrible stink (sugar processing)
3. Tom DeLay (combine 1 and 2)
Complaining about the media has become such a full-time industry that, well, what's the point? Your criticism, while sound, is a little laughable when considering much more serious problems about the news. It's like complaining that the problem with radical Islam is that they don't comb their beards very well -- true, but if only that was the worst of it!
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