CNBC Today: 'Why US Economy May Be Headed for Another Recession'

Funny how they weren’t exploring that topic until today.

Which is the flip-side to 1992. Back then, Big Media produced a steady-stream of doomsday economic news, such as a stark black September 1992 Time magazine cover which portentously asked, “The Economy: Is there light at the end of the tunnel?” As the Charlotte Business Journal noted a couple of years ago, of course there was — it simply wouldn’t become visible to the MSM until after they had disposed of George H.W. Bush:

How bad is it? Is the U.S. economy headed for a double-dip? A lost decade? A recovery this fall?

While the markets bounce back and forth on the various predictions, consider this little nugget circulating this week and in my inbox this morning:

“The U.S. economy remains almost comatose… The current slump already ranks as the longest period of sustained weakness since the Great Depression… Once in a lifetime dislocations… will take years to work out. Among them: the job drought, the debt hangover, the defense industry contraction, the banking collapse, the real estate depression, the health care cost explosion and the runaway federal deficit.”

That’s from the September 1992 Time magazine cover story. But here’s the best part: The U.S. economy actually grew 4.2% in the fourth-quarter that year and went on to enjoy a terrific decade-long run of prosperity. And we learned in hindsight that recession had actually already ended when the article was printed.

I remember vividly watching the media’s reporting turn on a dime back in November of 1992, once the election was concluded. Or as this December 7th 1992 Time magazine headline notes somewhat snarkily, “Bush’s Economic Present for Clinton.”

To get a sense of how media bias can influence an election, Sonny Bunch of the Washington Free Beacon wrote yesterday:

I’ve never been a “the media is biased, zomg sort of guy.” But Jebus has this cycle radicalized me. Imagine the coverage John McCain would have had to contend with if he had run for reelection after funneling billions of taxpayer dollars to donors investing in dodgy energy projects, 8 percent unemployment, a dead ambassador, and a drowning and freezing hurricane-ravaged New York City that his federal agencies were totally failing to help. It would not have been pretty.

Unexpectedly!