Mythbuster on the Economy
My son likes to watch the the Discovery Channel TV show, MythBusters. Sometimes I join him to watch the creative testing of various urban legends.
The regular economic updates from David Malpass, Bear Stearn’s Chief Global Economist, have this same quality. He often combines economic theory and insightful examination of data to expose popular "market urban legends." He has written extensively, for example, on topics like the following:
- Why the unemployment rate is a better current economic indicator than payroll employment;
- Why the (negative) personal savings rate is a completely misleading measure; and
- Why the projected effects of a weaker housing market on the consumer are exaggerated.
Malpass has been very accurate for several years, during a time when the economy has not been easy to predict.
For those who do not have regular access to his analysis, you can take a look at his current weekly letter, courtesy of RIch Karlgaard at Digital Rules.
I was hoping that Mythbusters was going to somehow do a show on money. I don’t know how it would play out, but I’d surely watch.
Hey Lazy Man —
What a great idea! Maybe if enough of us asked….. The average investor has completely tuned out. A Malpass appearance on MythBusters would reach a completely fresh audience. He would need to find a way to jazz it up a bit. The last segment I saw involved folding paper the size of a football field to break the “seven folds” myth and how to escape when your car left the road and went into a body of water.
Too bad that the folks at Bear Sterns do nor hear their chief BS economist, Mr. Malpass (not even an economist he is!)