Something feels really suspicious about the manner in which the mainstream media is reporting the state of the US economy in connection to the Chinese economy and other economies in general. Pouring through months of economic data, there has been a consistent narrative about how great the US economy is. The data suggests that there is an ongoing economic recovery and that years of fears about an impending Recession have subsided. At the same time, there is other rhetoric insinuating that the Chinese economy is far worse than it actually is. Meanwhile, there is a disconnect between what the economist’s data is purporting and what the American people are experiencing.
Very little appears to be adding up. A larger share of Americans think that the US economy is doing worse for them than it was during or before the Pandemic alone. It is a significant sentiment but one that is not reflected in the economist’s data. I also noticed that some of the rhetoric about China is on the cusp of a new Japanese-style Lost Decade to be blown out of proportion.
The correlation I am noticing lately is whether the mainstream media is trying to spin a delicate narrative at a time when the economic state of the world is far from normal, even by 2010s standards. That the US is performing far better than the rest of the world, including China, Japan and Germany, even though the US is hardly any better than the next three largest economies. That things are “getting better” and anyone who questions this is probably some Trumpist blowhard. That there is a seemingly insatiable need for new employees and businesses are booming, despite the various layoffs and hiring freezes in otherwise “safe” Industries such as healthcare or technology.
Yes, there have been moments where I had to entertain the possibility of whether the US media coverage of economic news should be recognized as “propaganda.” A kind of propaganda whose credibility is quickly being undermined as there are plenty of Americans whose experiences do not support the data it purports to uphold. It has gotten to the point where I am left wondering whether the next big thing is cooking the books or fabricating economic data.
Who gains from the US media’s contradictory rhetoric on economic life? Who gains from their attempts to frame certain tidbits of questionable economic data into something that is reflective of the entire US economy? Who gains from the apparent disconnect between the data and the actual empirical evidence, a trend that has become apparent in recent years? All of this coupled with the fact that 2024 is a Presidential Election year?
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The Fourth Estate 
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