Romney’s joke of economic analysis

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The media villagers have been having fun with Willard "Mittens" Romney's off-putting sense of humor in his awkward attempt to appear more spontaneous and human. Today Romney told a group of unemployed workers that “I’m also unemployed,” which was followed by polite uncomfortable laughter.

It’s pretty clear from the context that he was attempting to make a joke, badly. The man is humorless despite the media villagers' best efforts to polish his turd of a joke.

But as Ezra Klein noted today, Romney’s jokes aren’t the problem. His economic analysis is:

I’d focus instead on Romney’s comment that “We have seen the most anti-investment, antigrowth, antijob strategy in America since Jimmy Carter. The result has been it’s harder and harder for people to find work.”

By any measure, this is absurd. Taxes are at a 50-year low. The Dow has staged a roaring recovery. Business profits are near record levels. And the economy has gone from losing 780,000 jobs a month to gaining about 160,000 jobs a month. That is to say, it’s getting easier and easier for people to find work, even if it’s not nearly easy enough.

I don’t mind bad jokes. What I mind is bad economic analysis.

Humorless is harmless. This shapeshifter is a shameless liar, and that is dangerous. This is what the media villagers ought to be reporting.