A Whale of a Tale
The media perpetuated outrageous economic myths throughout the year.

By Herman Cain
Business & Media Institute National Chairman
Dec. 14, 2005

     Holiday traditions are grounded in stories from the past, including how St. Nicholas became Jolly St. Nick. But some storytellers are hard at work no matter what the season. You can always trust the liberal wing of the U.S. news media to come up with a whopper. Unfortunately, these tall tales aren’t harmless. They distort the facts, deliberately mislead the public, and form the basis for bad public policy.

     It is my hope that calling attention to media bias and distortion will empower the public and policymakers to be better news consumers in 2006. We must demand that the media stop treating us like we’re stupid. We must show them we know the facts. To this end, the Media Research Center’s Business & Media Institute, which focuses on the accuracy of business and economic news, has released its list of the Top 10 Media Myths of 2005.

     10. America should follow French fashion in business. The media fawned when France adopted a shorter work week a few years ago, but the economic results have left no room for utopian dreams. With unemployment twice that of the United States and productivity declining, the French had to admit their plan was going out of style – a point driven home painfully in that country’s recent riots. Now if only the U.S. media could admit that European welfare states don’t work.

     9. We must raise taxes to cope with ballooning deficits. This is an old media favorite, made new this year with Hurricane Katrina’s devastation and the continuation of the Iraq war. They’re quick to say the only answer is to raise taxes, despite the economic boom that has followed the 2003 tax cuts – and deficit reductions to the tune of $96 billion, thanks to higher tax receipts. The media never want to cut spending, except in areas where they disagree politically, like the war.

     8. Global warming is causing stronger hurricanes. The media are intent on blaming the Bush administration for global warming. But scientists say they’re not sure man is causing global warming, and they’re even more adamant that global warming and hurricanes are not related.

     7. America is cheap with its foreign aid. I get tired of hearing multimillionaire celebrities saying the United States doesn’t do enough for poor countries. This country gives more than any other in terms of foreign aid, and that doesn’t even include private donations, which were three times greater than official government aid in 2003.

     6. Hurricane Katrina will send the economy into a tailspin. This year’s destructive hurricanes didn’t end with Katrina, and they were tragic for thousands of people. But Americans showed their resilience once again as job growth continued and the oil supply recovered surprisingly quickly from the storms’ interruptions. Once again, the media were quick to predict the worst, and thank God it didn’t come to pass.

     5. The housing bubble is about to burst. The media have been harping on this one for years. Way back in 2001, the housing market was supposedly on the verge of catastrophe. Journalists don’t seem to understand that there is no such thing as a national housing price. Each local market has its own ups and downs. And when prices start to go down, it’s good news for those who want to buy.

     4. Americans are dying to be fat. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released shocking statistics this year on obesity-related deaths, giving more ammunition to those who blame the food industry for America’s weight problems. Later CDC studies revealed their statistics were faulty, but both the CDC and the media continued to hype the false stats instead of giving people the truth.

     3. Consumers are choosing between food or fuel. According to the media, the hurricane-related spike in gas prices was going to kill the rest of the economy, including little Susie and Johnny’s Christmas. Funny how retail sales blew that gloomy prophecy out of the water during the Thanksgiving shopping rush, and gas prices declined when the oil supply made a quick post-hurricane recovery.

     2. Big, profitable companies are up to no good. The media like to use the guise of “corporate responsibility” to excuse their socialist leanings. Oil companies, targeted with a “windfall profits” tax, caught the brunt of this argument despite their low profit margins. Wal-Mart also suffered this year from media mayhem because it refuses to give in to the way the media think it should be run.

     1. The U.S. economy is hopeless. Coming in at No. 1 on the list, this media myth just boggles the mind. We have the world’s greatest economy, enjoying 30 straight months of positive job growth, 16 straight quarters of GDP growth and low unemployment. I don’t know what else we can do to convince the media that things are going well.

Herman Cain is the former president and CEO of Godfather’s Pizza, Inc. and currently is CEO and president of T.H.E. New Voice, Inc., a business and leadership consulting company. He is the National Chairman of the Media Research Center’s Business & Media Institute.