Liberty Insight

But these rose colored glasses, that I'm looking through, show only the beauty, cause they hide all the truth. -John Conlee

Do you ever get the feeling that something doesn’t quite add up with the economy? Does it seem odd that the recession officially ended in June of 2009 yet the Fed interest rate is still at 0-.25%. When Ben Bernanke assures us that there is no inflation, do you wonder if you’re the only sucker out there paying more for groceries, gas and clothes? Does it strike you as strange that in the strongest economy in the world, one in seven Americans are using food stamps?

Are the economists and pundits who paint a rosy picture of the economy simply drawing bad conclusions? Could be. Or, it could be that the data they are plugging into their computer models and economic theories is faulty. Could it be that the official government numbers are leading us astray?

At this point you may be asking yourself, “Why would the government fudge the numbers?” Then you might ask, “And why should I care?” The short answers are: 1) so the government doesn’t look as bad, and b) because it can have a dramatic impact on your investment strategy and financial well-being.

Economist John Williams has created a newsletter called Shadow Government Statistics, that, according to the website, “exposes and analyzes flaws in current U.S. government economic data and reporting, as well as in certain private-sector numbers, and provides an assessment of underlying economic and financial conditions, net of financial-market and political hype.” The shadowstats website is an important tool for anyone who wants to understand the true underlying fundamentals of our economy.

Below, is a discussion of the manipulation and misrepresentation of four important government numbers- the Consumer Price Index (CPI), unemployment rate, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and the national debt and deficit accounting. Continue reading →