Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Camila Navarrette and Chris Lowell 

People are angry, but about politics, not the economy 
Matthew Yglesias, Vox Policy & Politics  

What combination of the above graph does the story employ? 
- Use of trends from previous decades regarding the economy to analyze the short-term
- Observing trends to culminate quantitative data 
- Quadrant 1: Rigorous & empirical / quantitative 
- Thin connection to conclusions drawn 

How is data used as an explanation or prediction of something? 
- Data used to bolster and explain points 
- Mislead: charts and data draw thin conclusion
   - ex) People feel okay about the economy subheader 
           - Illustrated by graph, ranging from 1960 to 2016, that measures consumer sentiment and satisfaction                while emphasizing the present 
           - Wage increases not accurate measurement of economic growth/prosperity 
                 - Wage increase movements across country 
                 - Tenant of Sander's campaign rests on economic inequality and the wealth gap 

Are there other ways the data could be explained that would give the story a different frame? 
- Emphasize Republicans and Democrats view that their side is losing 
- Political parties and notion of "losing" : under-analyzed 
   - Graph: by age, who believes is "losing" in politics 
--> What does this say about the media and perception? 
--> What does this say about the political system? 
- Koch Brothers ex) 
--> Could be more analyzed given their political status and influence 
--> If they don't feel like heaps of money can solve an issue, what can? 

Summary 
--> Politics and economic issues are intertwined; incomplete analysis of their importance to one another 
   - The economy may be better at this moment, but this doesn't mean that it is not an important issue to Americans during this election 
    - ex) The wealth gap and its connection to racial/ethnic issues 
--> Given this relationship - no matter its state at this moment -, how can we better our political system to reflect the interests of the public? 
--> What do individual's political insecurity and belief that their "side" is "losing" say about the health of our political system? 

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