a good, quick overview of the important stories about the economy. Esp. liked the short feature on Rent-A-Center, a story that might have gone unnoticed in all the stuff about oil prices, yet very significant.

With so much jargon, so many figures and a good chunk of the American press marching in lock-step in its economic coverage lately, it's good to have an independent filter on it all. Columbia Journalism Review came through on this one. This article is a very effective parsing of the MSM's reports, both front-page and inside. For an even closer look at the statistics used to measure economic health, check out "Numbers Racket" by Kevin Phillips in this month's Harper's Magazine. I'd post it here, but only subscribers can read it on the Web site.

Well constructed comparison of recent reports by WSJ, NYT and FT on the US Economy. WIth so many percentages, graphs and numbers floating around, its good to see CJR take on the job of trying to distill the news.

An informative overview of how the media is covering the economy. Interestingly, in checking the papers today, I noted that USA Today chose to lead with a study on how college tuition increases fail to benefit students, the WaPo led with the forced resignation of Doan at GSA, the NYT led with the decrease in spending and the LA Times led with the high death toll in Ira1. Even the WSJ topped its news box with a poll showing Republicans hold their party in low esteem, but that McCain is holding even with the two Democrats in national polls.

While a good story, not enough time spent analyzing the effect of lower rates on inflation, growth, and especially exports. The falling dollar causing an increase in exports is an important growth effect. It is unfair to redefine "recession", to be whenever some elites say it is, rather than some more objective criteria -- 2 consecutive quarters of negative growth.