The way the media handled the reporting on U.S. GDP growth having its fastest growth ever in the third quarter yesterday was atrocious at best. But the way Reuters handled the expected growth a day before the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) report dropped was just pathetic.
Reuters downplayed the expected GDP growth: “[I]t will do little to mitigate the human tragedy inflicted by the coronavirus pandemic, with tens of millions Americans still unemployed and more than 222,000 dead.” After knocking President Donald Trump for the possibility that he will “seize on the [expected] stunning rebound in GDP,” Reuters pivoted to citing Cornell University Associate Professor of Government Christopher Way to make a completely arbitrary claim: “‘The figure for estimated GDP growth in the third quarter will be dramatic, and will have absolutely zero effect on the election.’” Reuters never mentioned that Way is a Joe Biden donor, having given the Democratic presidential nominee $500 so far. In fact, Federal Election Commission records show Way has donated exclusively to Democrats this cycle.
Did Reuters even think to consider that Way may have a monetary interest in downplaying the expected GDP numbers in order to boost his preferred candidate?
Way continued: “‘It is economic performance in the first half of an election year that matters. For people who are still out of work or struggling with dwindling savings after the stimulus wears off, it will have little impact.’” You wouldn’t know reading Reuters that Way being a Biden donor may explain why he would say something like this.
Also interesting is that Reuters had noted that “Gross domestic product probably rebounded at a 31% annualized rate last quarter, according to a Reuters survey of economists. That would be the fastest pace since the government started keeping records in 1947 and follow a historic 31.4% rate of decline in the second quarter.”
It must have been pretty sad for Reuters to see a day later that GDP growth had actually skyrocketed to a 33.1 percent annualized rate. The growth beat Reuters' predictions by over 2 percentage points. Reuter’s predictions were even lower than those of economists surveyed by Dow Jones, who reportedly expected to see a 32 percent annualized rate increase. The BEA estimates beat the Dow Jones predictions as well.
Conservatives are under attack. Contact Reuters and demand it disclose the political biases of its sources.
