Say Anything

The tension between the narrative-making efforts of the establishment news media and the covering real events part of the establishment news media, neatly illustrated on the current front page of Politico. Look at the bottom left and top right corners:

Inflation is easing. Also, inflation pressures are further intensifying. Glad we could clear that up.

That story about inflation easing is built around an interview with a White House economic advisor, obviously sent out on the interview trail to generate headlines with the pre-election claim that inflation is no longer a problem. But watch the way that claim actually goes in the body of the story that appears under the headline with the words “inflation eases,” because — spoiler alert — the story doesn’t match the headline:

Signs of ebbing goods inflation began to show up in Thursday’s consumer price index report, with a sizable drop in used car prices and a slight tick down in furniture costs. Annual inflation slowed to 8.2 percent from 8.3 percent. But the data lacked a more substantial improvement that forecasters had been hoping for, likely keeping the Fed on track for another supersized rate increase in November.

Jared Bernstein, who sits on President Joe Biden’s Council of Economic Advisers, said in an interview there’s clear evidence that the administration’s efforts to boost U.S. output is bearing fruit and will aid in the fight to tame surging prices by helping supply better meet demand.

The White House is trying to be careful to avoid wishful thinking, he said, but supply chain improvements, whether thanks to policy or not, should “eventually ease, to some degree, inflationary pressures.”

Inflation has fallen from 8.3% to 8.2%, so. And further inflationary pressure should eventually ease to some degree. See, it’s all fixed! Let’s move on.

As November creeps closer, look for more headlines that say PROBLEM SOLVED. They’ll appear over stories that describe problems which haven’t been solved.