Misleading Economic Data: Growth Minus Inflation Equals?

The government and media constantly reports economic data, including growth and inflation data.  But what happens if they are added up?

For example, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, currently estimates:

Real gross domestic product -- the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States -- increased at an annual rate of 2.0 percent in the third quarter of 2011 (that is, from the second quarter to the third quarter) according to the "second" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/national/gdp/gdpnewsrelease.htm

Out of the other side of its mouth, the government estimates the current annual rate of inflation is about 3%, as reported via, e.g., http://www.shadowstats.com/alternate_data/inflation-charts

Even if one believes these government reports, which no one should, 2% growth rate minus 3% inflation rate does not equal economic growth--it equals economic contraction.

“Occupy” Calls “the 99%” to Attack

“Occupy Wall Street”­­—and every other business street—is a call for violence.  Witness the “Occupy” attempted sit-ins and obstructions around the country.  Such a call is immoral:

But there is no justification, in a civilized society, for the kind of mass civil disobedience that involves the violation of the rights of others—regardless of whether the demonstrators' goal is good or evil.  The end does not justify the means.  No one's rights can be secured by the violation of the rights of others.  Mass disobedience is an assault on the concept of rights: it is a mob's defiance of legality as such. 

The forcible occupation of another man's property or the obstruction of a public thoroughfare is so blatant n violation of rights that an attempt to justify it becomes an abrogation of morality.  An individual has no right to do a "sit-in" in the home or office of a person he disagrees with—and he does not acquire such a right by joining a gang.  Rights are not a matter of numbers—and there can be no such thing, in law or in morality, as actions forbidden to an individual, but permitted to a mob.

The only power of a mob, as against an individual, is greater muscular strength—i.e., plain, brute physical force.  The attempt to solve social problems by means of physical force is what a civilized society is established to prevent.  The advocates of mass civil disobedience admit that their purpose is intimidation.  A society that tolerates intimidation as a means of settling disputes—the physical intimidation of some men or groups by others, loses its moral right to exist as a social system, and its collapse does not take long to follow.

Ayn Rand, The Cashing-In: The Student "Rebellion," Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, 1966, p. 256.

Say What You Mean

It is important to choose one's words carefully so that "one may say what one means and mean what one says."

Referring to more than one dictionary can be helpful to grasp the meanings, senses, and connotations of a word.  OneLook.Com currently has "19,212,906 words in 1063 dictionaries indexed."  This resource allows one to quickly review several dictionary sources for the definitions of a word.

To further explore the meanings, senses, and connotations of a word and to help find the most accurate word, the "hierarchical" dictionary and thesaurus at http://www.wordnet-online.com/ includes "Definitions, synonyms, antonyms, hypernyms, hyponyms, meronyms, holonyms, derived forms and sample sentences."  This resource must be experienced to appreciate its thoroughness.