- Capitalism and Alternatives -

They're incorrect

Posted by: Stoller on November 23, 1999 at 15:14:06:

In Reply to: Either they are correct or incorrect. posted by David on November 23, 1999 at 10:21:31:

McSpotlight: David, I don't mean to sound rude, but quoting the Cato Institute as your sole source isn't really going to persuade many of the opposition here; the Cato Institute has something of a reputation...

: Unless the reputation is of giving false statistics, than I really see no point. All I care about is the validity of the statements. Either they are correct or incorrect.

In one corner...


71% of households own no shares at all or hold less than $2,000 worth in any form, including mutual funds, 401(k)s, and traditional pensions. (Business Week, 1 Setember 1997, p. 67.)


And in the other:


Today, 76 million Americans, members of 43 percent households, own stock or stock mutual funds... (The Rise of Worker Capitalism, Cato Policy analysis, p. 1, Executive summary.)


Two sets of numbers, both conflicting. It's a matter of which source is more TRUSTWORTHY.

You'll notice that I always quote mainstream sources---the New York Times, Business Week, government data. I NEVER quote, say, a Spartacist pamphlet or a CPUSA newspaper. The reason? Better to stick to sources that EVERYONE agrees are TRUSTWORTHY.

Gee says: If the Cato institute were to publish that 2 + 2 = 4 then it would decried as 'capitalist propaganda'.

The problem with the Cato institute---as Mcspotlight has intimated---is that they are NOTORIOUS for saying things like 2 + 2 = 50,000.




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