Hating on Good Numbers

Could 'experts' and the New York Times be more disappointed and wrong?

This is the posture you must assume when reading news on the economy in newspapers like the New York Times, because everything’s turned upside down.

Here’s the NYTs headline on their website at 6:55 a.m. this morning:

U.S. Economy Slowed in First Half of 2025 as Tariffs Scrambled Data

Here’s what really happened: Gross domestic product grew at an annualized pace of 3% in the second quarter, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis's advance estimate. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected a 2.6% increase.

CNBC’s headline:

U.S. economy grew at a 3% rate in Q2, a better-than-expected pace even as Trump’s tariffs hit

Here’s Bloomingbit:

U.S. Economic Recovery... Q2 GDP Surges 3.0%

This “winning” as President Trump calls it, has gotta be getting old for the so-called “experts,” who keep missing the mark. Here’s one “expert” before the 3% number dropped:

We will see growth somewhat over 2.0 percent in the second quarter. This would ordinarily be fine, but when this growth figure is averaged in with the drop of 0.5 percent in the first quarter, it is exceptionally weak.

Well, dude, it came in at 3%, better than the predictions. So, even if you average Q1 numbers and Q2, you still get good growth, right?

Even a journalist of average intelligence can see that.

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Cincinnati Brawl

A brawl in downtown Cincinnati made national news for one reason: White people got brutalized by black people. Well, make that two reasons: It was caught on video. Part of the brawl is shown in the clip above.