Robert Samuelson Provides A Lesson On Economics Journalism At The Washington Post

Robert Samuelson writes a regular column on the economy for the Washington Post.  In this article he describes the labor market, which he argues, has been bad for workers because of the Great Recession.  He quotes economists from conservative and liberal think tanks about the decline in unemployment and the lack of growth in wages.  He concludes that it is still not clear whether the damage from the Great Recession is over or whether its effects on the labor market will be more permanent. 

So what's wrong about this rather typical article from Robert Samuelson? He demonstrated his objectivity by quoting from liberal and conservative commentators and the facts that he presented are accurate.  In other words, his article conforms to the standards of conventional journalism.

The major problem with Samuelson's article, and the problem with most conventional journalism, is in the way the problems have been framed by Samuelson.  He argues that the Great Recession is responsible for the poor labor labor market.  Certainly the Great Recession accelerated unemployment, but the problems faced by workers did no begin with the Great Recession.  For example, Samuelson points out that wages have been flat since 2009 when the Great Recession began.  What he doesn't say is that there has almost no real growth in median wages for 30 years.  The labor market has been getting bad for workers since the 1980's; it did not begin with the Great Recession.  Corporations, with the cooperation of government,  have been doing what they can to weaken the negotiating power of workers for a long time.  Globalization along with the weakening of unions has had a powerful effect on wages and job security since the 1980's. This has not only affected unskilled workers, it has also affected skilled professionals in large corporations.  Job security and loyalty to and from the corporation has been seriously eroded.  There are more temporary workers who do not receive healthcare benefits, and defined benefit pension plans have almost disappeared.  The implicit contract between the corporation and its employees that existed prior to the 1980's has been canceled. 

Samuelson concludes his article by asking whether the labor market will recover from the Great Recession.  The problems in the labor market were not caused by the Great Recession and the damages that have been done to labor market are permanent unless the changes to that market that have been made over an extended period of time are altered.  That is unlikely as long as economic journalists like Samuelson define the problem.