Econospinning: How to Read Between the Lines When the Media Manipulate the Numbers

This is one of the best books I've read in several years. Epstein's arguments are fact-based and logical. Be prepared to follow some mathematical reasoning - but it is not difficult, just a bit tedious sometimes. I've read three Krugman's books and Freakonomics in the past, and personally I find Epstein's reasoning far more convincing. Don't disregard this book simply because you think Epstein is a political right and he hates Paul Krugman. This has nothing to do with his argument, which is superb.

Dear "Auros of Palo Alto": If you're going to "review" my book without bothering to read any of it, your remarks should at least be cribbed from someone who actually has read it. But blogger Brad DeLong, whose critique you parrot in detail, barely finished a few paragraphs, as you yourself will discover if you check out my response to DeLong on my own blog, econospinning.com--a running commentary on media reaction to my book. Just for starters, you'll find that if DeLong had only finished reading the three pages my book devotes to the employment report and the bond market, he would have discovered that I did not commit the naive error he attributes to me--and which you, as DeLong's dupe, then repeat. Of course I looked at the bond market's response to the employment report immediately before the data are released, as DeLong would have discovered if he'd only read a few more paragraphs in that three-page section. Do you think I could write for a sophisticated market weekly like Barron's for the past 14 years and not know that markets move on expectations? By trusting DeLong, dear Auros-of-Palo-Alto, you remind me of the dumb guy from junior high who didn't even know to cheat off someone who had actually done the reading! But it's not too late to reform. Try reading my blog, then try my book--and then I suggest you try writing a review based on your own opinions. Warmly, Gene Epstein

Econospinning is beautifully written, funny and provocative in a good way. Author Gene Epstein confronts the elite media and helps us think more clearly about the economy. He questions where we're heading on social security, medicare, medicaid, and guides us through the media spin.

My favorite parts of the book are 1) Epstein's surprisingly simple demolishing of the Freakonomics abortion thesis 2) the exposure of NY Times columnist Krugman's unwillingness to acknowledge the coming eldercare-entitlement crisis 3) The tidbit at the end about Malcom Gladwell on healthcare and "moral hazard." The reviewer below apparently hasn't read the book--he simply read the blog of Brad DeLong. He has plucked out exactly same sections of the book as Delong, while echoing verbatim what DeLong wrote about Epstein's book. DeLong, a University of California economist, happens to be criticized in Epstein's book, which apparently set him off on a rant on his blog peppered with phrases like "Epstein has the stupids" and "Must... adjust medication doses."

Everyone has heard the expression "torture the data until they confess" but hardly anyone screams about how that happens on almost a daily basis in the media. Commentators, reporters, pundits, analysts seem to have a point of view and then refer to economic indicators that buttress their position. How backwards. The numbers are the numbers and those who care about them ought to demand that they be honestly reported and analyzed. Epstein shows how data get massaged to buttress political points to help us all see things a little clearer. What a pleasure. Someone interested in reality over political posturing.