Opinion
By Steve Nicklas, 3-24-25
They say numbers don’t lie. But unscrupulous people adding up the numbers do.
Look no farther than the shocking restatement of U.S. jobs last year under the former Biden administration. When 818,000 previously reported jobs mysteriously vanished, the hustle was revealed. The sleight of hand would make Houdini proud.
Meanwhile, as the transition between administrations evolves, so is the reporting of economic and financial numbers. Fake numbers are being replaced by real ones by the Trump administration, causing a falsely rosy economic picture to discolor.
After four long years of massaging and misreporting economic numbers to promote the failed experiment of “Bidenomics,” the truth is now being told. And it’s as pleasant as stepping on a sand spur.
The U.S. economy is sputtering and the stock market is fluttering, without buttering up the statistics. You see, the numbers are no longer make-believe, like them or not.
Meanwhile, the national media (including many financial journalists) spins slanted narratives to fit the liberal talking points. The media is no more than a public-relations tool for Democrats, handing them a loud and persistent megaphone. Telling us not to believe what is in our plain sight.
Look at the media’s miscues. Touting the “Russia, Russia, Russia” false narrative. Hiding Biden’s cognitive decline. Outright lying about the southern border and subsequent crime from illegal aliens.
All the while fawning over the distorted numbers about the economy and our financial wherewithal. As expected, the shameful media ignored the 818,000-job revision. It fit their pro-Biden narrative like a square peg in a round hole.
In a personal experience, a prominent investment service ignored my question about how financial pundits could describe the job market as blissful. Especially after the restatement and the revelation that most of the “new” jobs were in government.
The service ignored my simple, but direct, question. So I cancelled their pricey service.
Nowadays, however, the media is no longer on defense. It’s on offense, lobbing daily attacks against the new Trump administration – and especially Elon Musk. Even the financial/business journalists are doing it.
“Economic journalists have caught the anti-Trump ‘Russia, Russia, Russia’ hoax bug,” says respected business commentator Larry Kudlow.
In contrast, accurate numbers are quantifying the reckless spending by Biden. In his final months, billions of dollars were doled out to Democrat operatives, such as an environmental slush fund set up by Stacy Abrams. In several instances, the recipients were told to spend the money quickly before anyone noticed. (And you wonder why the left is so distraught over Musk’s DOGE audit.)
The economy has a hangover from the rampant spending. As typical, the media blames the economy’s slowdown on Trump’s tariff policies. The flimsy “tariff tantrum” has led to a correction in U.S. stocks.
Something is being made out of nothing here. The tariffs are a tool to negotiate freer trade. And they are hardly inflationary.
Trump’s moves are almost all disinflationary. Like paring back government spending and cutting employees, following DOGE’s recommendations. Increasing oil production to reduce gas prices. Taking a scalpel to the onerous regulations instituted by Biden.
Humorously, there is still more to the 818,000-job restatement. And it’s not that the Bureau of Labor Statistics forgot how to count. It’s part of the deception.
Democrats knew the severe error could hurt their chances for the presidency. Therefore, the revision was to be announced after the Nov. 5 election.
However, someone leaked the damaging information earlier than the target date. And the deception was foiled.
Come to think of it, no one has ever said that politicians don’t lie.
Steve Nicklas is a Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor and a veteran financial advisor in Nassau County. He is also an award-winning columnist. His columns have appeared in the New York Times regional newspaper group as well as in Community Newspapers, Inc. He has taught financial classes at Florida State College and at the Council on Aging, and served as an adjunct instructor at the University of North Florida. He can be reached at 904-753-0236 or at [email protected].
The views expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Citizens Journal Florida
