New from the Business & Media Institute
The Picture of Hype [1]
How much is gas at your corner station? Tack on another 75 cents and
thats probably the price the networks will be showing on the screen. A
new Business & Media Institute analysis found four out of five images shown in
gas price stories were higher than the national average at the time up
to $3.25 higher. Its just the latest chapter in the televised gas
hysteria.
Media at Large: Networks Images Pump Up Gas Prices [2]
Dan Gainor, the director of the Business & Media Institute, indicts the networks
for putting an additional scare tax on gasoline by showing stations with
extreme prices.
Got a
gripe? [3] Seen something lately in the news that just wasnt right? Let
us know!
Scorn on the Bayou: the Political Economics of Katrina [4]
Newsweek added its voice to the media chorus covering poverty in New
Orleans. But the article was based on faulty data. Economic reality shows
a different United States and a different Louisiana.
The Good, the Bad & the Ugly [5]
The Good, the Bad & the Ugly tracks the best and worst media coverage of
business and economics. Readers are invited to submit suggestions or news
tips to Director
Dan Gainor [6].
This week: The New York Times shows businesses arent all bad; Lou
Dobbs reminds viewers that its good to open a history book; and
Newsweeks Jonathan Alter spins statistics about poverty.
Also from BMI:
NBC Adds to Storm of Climate Change Stories [7]
Media Add to Celebrity Push for U.N. Aid Mandate [9]
Research, News & Commentary
Hurricane Katrina
Commentary [10]: Disasters like Katrina expose the federal budget as it really is and emphasize governments helpful functions over its wasteful aspects.
Commentary [11]: Catos Alan Reynolds explains why an economic stimulus from hurricane rebuilding is an illusion; and, why higher energy prices dont mean higher inflation.
Research [12]: A team of Heritage Foundation scholars addresses ways to make President Bushs Katrina recovery plans a reality.
Free Market
Commentary [13]: James K. Glassman explains why extra taxes on oil companies profits wont do anything to calm angry gasoline consumers.
Research [14]: Though the media refer to tax cuts as a cost to the government, repealing the tax cuts would actually cost America dearly in jobs and the overall economy.
Commentary [15]: All eyes have been on China lately, but dont forget Japan its still the worlds second-largest economy.
Research [16]: BMI Adviser Bruce Bartlett sums up the housing debate: if youre staying put for a few years, dont worry. But if youre buying for investment on the coasts, make sure youre prepared for a market dip.
Health Care
Commentary [17]: Hollywoods The Constant Gardener is the latest attack on the pharmaceutical industry.
Poverty
Commentary [18]: Theres no such thing as government charity.
Research [19]: Its time for the IMF and the World Bank to reconsider the U.N.s Millennium Development Goals.