About

The business press has become exponentially more visible and important over the past several decades. Yet no other part of the press is more monolithic. The issues that are covered, the way they are covered and the assumptions about what is right and wrong give the appearance of a single, national editorial board.

Add to this the amount of jargon and the frequency with which opinion are passed off as universally accepted facts, and you have a major segment of the media that is almost written in a secret code.

Until the housing bubble burst (and before that the dot com bubble) and the economic crisis was in full swing, the amount of coverage given to pointing out the potential danger was almost nil. And in the aftermath, much of the coverage basically said, these matters are so complex, ordinary people can’t even understand them.

Well, that’s nonsense. And the purpose of this blog is to decode what is out there so that ordinary people can understand what is being said and, more importantly, critically evaluate what they read.

A couple of ground rules:

1. The business press reflects the interests of its owners: large multi-national businesses. Seems simple, but think of what the sports page would look like if the Yankees owned it.

2. These interests are often contrary to those of ordinary people. Again, this should come as no surprise. Bailing out the banks was universally supported by the business press. Did it help you? (And don’t believe for a second that the world would’ve ended if we didn’t bail them out.)

3. We don’t believe in conspiracies. Everything’s right out in the open. All you’ve got to do is know where to look and what to look for. We say this primarily to deflect anticipated criticism.

4. Politics is intertwined with business and money. Both parties are equally interested in maintaining the status quo. Both parties work for the rich and against the shrinking middle class (what we refer to as ordinary people).

5. Both political parties are completely supportive of the business class because it is that class which pays and supports them.

6. Perhaps most importantly, I have owned and operated businesses. I have been a consultant to businesses and I love business. This blog is a “side gig” that I do because I believe strongly that the US economy has been one of the greatest engines of wealth creation ever, but that it is in the process of being turned against ordinary people.

Credentials: Recovering lawyer, successful entrepreneur and successful business consultant.

Comments: pete.grannen@gmail.com