Friday, Jul 18, 2008
Can you say 'mindless optimism'
BBC News: Five reasons to be cheerful amid the gloom
Feel the gloom. With more bad news on the economy this week, is there no comfort, no end to pessimism? Yes! The Magazine challenged statistical sleuths Michael Blastland and Andrew Dilnot to scour the data - and find us five reasons to be cheerful.
Posted by dom @ 01:20 PM (1252 views) Add Comment
24 Comments
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1. nooneo said...
Wow - And here's me thinking that we're facing an abyss. Oh well I suppose 'cos I'm living longer I can ride the waves of all the future property bubbles and live a happy life.
You've never had it so good people - Remember Auntie Beeb is there to massage your worried brow. Phew and I thought it had hit the fan and we were all wallowing in the brown stuff. Just goes to show how wrong we all are.
2. fancypants said...
I think point 4 is particularly disingenuous. Or just plain stupid, I'm not sure which.
3. Fubar said...
Oh thats great, maybe as im living longer I will finally be able to get on the property ladder when I get my bus pass!
4. nooneo said...
I personally think point four is condescending and just plain rude. "Be happy little people, you know you could lose your jobs"
When are the British people going to realise that, far from being the cuddly Auntie Beeb that they portray themselves as, it is, in fact, an insidious vehicle for government propaganda, paid for directly by the people.
Wow, even the the soviet union couldn't make the people actually pay (directly) for ramming the communist agenda down their throats!
5. Phdinbubbles said...
"authors of The Tiger that Isn't - Seeing Through a World of Numbers". The only thing I can see through is the gap between their ears. How is it possible for people to be this stupid? The only thing that would make me cheerful is if they joined the choir invisible, started pushing up the daisies and shuffled off this mortal coil.
6. Eyes_wide_open said...
@nooneo
"I personally think point four is condescending and just plain rude."
Absolutely spot-on, it's a disgraceful article in its entirerity. Let's look at the points:
1) HOUSE PRICES ARE UP
Well, not really and if they were how does 'unaffordable' housing make people happy?
2) EMPLOYMENT RATE IS HIGH
Yeah, what they mean is that there are more low-paid workers than ever before, and this article completely ignores the millions of 'economically inactive' people.
3) INFLATION HAS FALLEN
Unbelievable. Just shows that BBC "Journalists" are as far removed from reality than the crooks in the Houses of Parliament.
4) LOWER EARNINGS ARE GOOD
Thanks BBC, nice to know that being a lowly paid prole in Browns Britain is something we should be happy about.
5) WE'RE LIVING LONGER
Yippie, when I'm in the "Bread Lines" aged 87, I'll make sure I've got a smile on my face.
The BBC should be scrapped.
7. letthemfall said...
British Broadcasting for Chavs. Big Brother for BBC2.
8. little professor said...
Shockingly misleading article. I don't normally go in for the BBC-bashing, but this is outrageous.
House prices are DOWN
Employment level is FALLING
Inflation is at a ten-year HIGH
Lower earnings are forcing the low-waged to choose between food and heating
We're living longer - in the light of the above, that doesn't sound like a good thing.
9. nooneo said...
Why can't the BBC give us five REAL reasons to be cheerful amid the gloom.
1. Glasgow East is won by the SNP spuring an internal lection in the labour party for a new leader and then a general election because it will appear really unconstitionual to have a 2nd change of PM with getting a vote.
2. Kistie Allsopp realises everyone dislikes her and partly blames her for the property crash and she decides to permanantly move to the US (perhaps she can live with Paul Burrell).
3. We get a government with teeth, that start a social housing programme, underpinning our property market so people have a choice of whther to buy a property or not.
4. We nationalise all estate agents/conveyancors/property surveyors - Giving flat/sliding scale rates for all property transactions.
5. Bugger the water powered car - We need free wine/spirits and beer to help us through the recession - To paraphrase that great man, Winston Churchill "I may be drunk madame but at least in the morning my property's value hasn't dropped by £200 overnight!"
10. A N Other said...
WTF?! =O
BBC Journos are clearly living BTL la-la land :(
11. sovietuk said...
And why is the record public sector borrowing story tucked away as just a business minor headline on the BBC website? Yes the biggest quarterly public sector borrowing since 1946 at £24 billion and you have to look hard in their news for this information. Blatent down playing of a major and extremely serious economic story. Likewise on a different issue how about the downplaying of the chaos in the school exam marking? Must be thought of being run by Tory paymasters in the future, He he.
12. Novice Pete said...
The comments on the article page are laughable! The usual "let's not talk ourselves into a recession, self fulfilling prophecy" bullcrap.
Hear no reality, Speak no reality, See no realty.
13. Whostolemyendowment said...
The BBC always hides the bad news behind a veneer of how lucky we are to be British - rather than Johnny foreigner. It is about time we scrapped the TV licence and opened the BBC up to the commercial world (where the majority of us live) - that would make them sh1t their pants!
There's a thing I found out recently - the law on TV licences has been changed - so even if you have no TV - but do have an internet connection and can receive streamed TV programmes on your PC or laptop (such as BBC iplayer) - so programmes are deemed near realtime....you still need a licence !!!!!!!
14. Yerhavingalaugh said...
1. We live in a democracy and have freedoms that others only dream about.
2. Most people in the UK will not go to bed hungry tonight unlike millions elsewhere.
3. Inflation might be rising but it isn't 2,000,000 % as in Zimbabwe.
4. Most people will turn on a tap to provide their drinking water not walk miles for it.
5. We have a health service that may not be perfect but is still free at the point of delivery.
How's that for starters.
15. beartil2010 said...
OMG WTF? What a ridiculous article. I love the comments - how dumb are these people?
'At last someone telling the truth, it's not that bad at all'
Someone hand me a shotgun - it's either for them or for me, whichever one I will be happier
16. little professor said...
Have they been getting ideas from estate agents?
http://www.theratandmouse.co.uk/weblog/archives/2008/07/knight_franks_f.html
17. nooneo said...
Yerhavingalaugh @ 14
Yerhavingalaugh are you having a larf?
1. We live in a democracy and have freedoms that others only dream about. - I voted 5 times in 5 general elactions for the 2nd party - My vote was effectively ruled out. I have since refused to even take part until some semblence of Proportional Representation is introduced. I want to see right wing and left wing (they are currently hiding themsleves in our party suystem) representatives in our democracy, excluded now with our wonderful crock party system!
2. Most people in the UK will not go to bed hungry tonight unlike millions elsewhere. - Good point, they can feast the finest cuisine. Pizza anyone! Yes another basic human right, sustenance.
3. Inflation might be rising but it isn't 2,000,000 % as in Zimbabwe. - Good comparison , Oh I feel so overjoyed that we don't live in the place that has an un-elected dictator!
4. Most people will turn on a tap to provide their drinking water not walk miles for it. - True but it is getting expensive and lets be honest about this it's another basic human right, lets not get caried away thinking it's a luxury, we are in a post industrial economy.
5. We have a health service that may not be perfect but is still free at the point of delivery. - 10 years of a Labour government and I still have no NHS dentist - Free at the point of delivery if you get run over - Most people I know have not had the best of treatment form our infection strewn nhs - The doctors are great though, now they can earn 100k a year.
It's not always constructive to make comparisons to worst case scenarios - We all know we (possibly) live in a fairer society than most others but to be honest I reckon an awful lot of johnny foreigners are enjoying comparible lifestyles, possibly better (the friggin weathers better everywhere else!) but it's still a right pain in the @rse living in a place where the state TV/media channel is so firmly stuck up the guv'mints botty as to render it not much better than North Korean TV, property prices effectively, price all but the most upwardly mobile from owning a house, We have had ying-yang socialist and conservative guv'mints that have both wasted the chance for this country to be world beaters with their total disregard for anything other than self preservation and we have to sit back and listen to over-privelidged t0ssers like Kurtsie Alsopp telling you "Go on kiddywinks it's only five hundred thoysand poyunds and you don't want to miss it dooo, yoou darlings, for a few extra grand".
Hows that for seconds.
18. alan said...
I've made my complaint. It was polite, but I can't see them printing it.
I guess all their decent journalists are on holiday!
19. malct said...
nooneo - you deserve a medal - but you'll more likely get a bullet.
If I dished out the medals I'd probably shoot you after I'd given you a medal.
Like John Lemmon.
20. malct said...
where's the monsson?
21. fubar said...
Oh thats great, maybe as im living longer I will finally be able to get on the property ladder when I get my bus pass!
Two f.u.beyond all recognition. Think I'll retire this username to avoid confusion and defer to the big `F'
22. Markus said...
I am cheerful! House prices are finally falling*, so how can I not be cheerful?
* The BBC pretend they don't understand they the difference between lender's and government's house price data and conclude the prices are somehow going up, not down. This constitutes a lie!
23. handle_it said...
Good times come and good times go.In that sense I mean that economic cycles seem inescapable. The "media" shouldn't be blamed for reporting the current state of the economy and the BBC (seemingly now a controlled public service broadcaster ?) should be condemned for trying to represent an unrealistic version of events. As stated the comments seem to highly edited in favour of the article. We do have reasons to be cheerful but it isn't because of any particular point in the cycle. When we are in the boom we are force fed goods and services that cause massive environmental damage to our planet but this has somehow been interpreted as "good". On the flip side once the credit has run out our conditioning has taught us to believe things are now "bad". I really have little faith left in the BBC. Conspiracy ? Well that's not for me to say but much more of this sort of drivel and I might start buying gold (lol)....
24. paul said...
This is state propaganda at its worst. I've come to expect little more of the BBC.