Saturday, July 18, 2009

Obama Adviser Cites Google Search as Economic 'Progress'


The rocket scientists orchestrating the economy from a bunker deep inside the White House are grasping at straws. Looking for any bright spot they can find, the best they can come up with is citing Google search trends. And, like so many things involving this administration, they're cherry-picking.

Of all the statistics pouring into the White House every day, top economic adviser Larry Summers highlighted one Friday to make his case that the economic free-fall has ended. The number of people searching for the term “economic depression” on Google is down to normal levels, Summers said. Searches for the term were up four-fold when the recession deepened in the earlier part of the year, and the recent shift goes to show consumer

Summers didn't bother searching on the stuff that matters for folks who are suffering. Courtesy of Google Trends, the following graphs depict the change in volume of search terms by folks using Google.

best job site

how long does unemployment last?

cheap food

foreclosure notice

how to sell my car

I guess Summers forgot to try those. Maybe he's not "empathetic" enough, like Judge Sotomayor.

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