'Garbage take': George Will explains how the good economic news is actually bad news

It seems a long way off already, but President Trump’s State of the Union address went heavy on good news about the economy and unemployment, which of course had Democrats sitting stoically in their seats with incredibly sour looks on their faces.

It felt good to be able to applaud tax cuts, economic growth, and record-low unemployment numbers, but in the Washington Post Friday, George F. Will explained how good economic news is actually bad news.

Opinion: The good economic news is actually bad. Here’s why. https://t.co/CHYqardgrE

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) February 3, 2018

A Republican is president. #SavedYouAClick https://t.co/celoEolyBT

— ?It's?Almost ⛄️Christmas? (@jtLOL) February 3, 2018

Well, that certainly explains why the Washington Post was happy to publish the piece, but what is Will trying to say about good economic news giving rise to poor behavior? We’ll skip right to his conclusion:

Americans consider deferral of gratification unnatural, which it is. Time was, however, thrift was considered a virtue. People sat at kitchen tables, calculating how to bring their outlays, for living and retiring, into alignment with their incomes. But eventually many people decided: This is no fun. Instead, let’s disconnect enjoyable spending decisions from tiresome facts about resources, thereby living the way the federal government does.

We’re still not getting it. So, bad economic news would be preferable?

Good is bad. Up is down. Left is right. Black is white. The Last Jedi was a good movie. We have always been at war with Eastasia. https://t.co/TIKfPLQXGZ

— JERRY DUNLEAVY (@JerryDunleavy) February 3, 2018

This bad article is actually good. Kidding. It's just bad. https://t.co/PVNrcyBGDz

— Ben (@freedomanddogs) February 3, 2018

A very strange article. It starts off by giving some examples of economic prophecies in the 20th century that not only didn't materialize, but the opposite happened. It goes on to say that people are better off poor because they can't be trusted with money if they have it. https://t.co/Hn0yhQkqY3

— Imshin אימשין (@imshin) February 3, 2018

The WaPo is just salivating for an economic pullback. The global economy is running full strength and this is the opinion they opt to publish. https://t.co/UzuJSaAKov

— Ryan Smyth (@RyanSmyth7) February 3, 2018

This sounds like an attempt at under cutting the "Trump is helping the economy." argument. And given the derangement of media outlets on the subject of Trump I'd not be surprised. https://t.co/7hcsDGpix0

— Cruel Angel's Thesis (@ShadowHarbinger) February 4, 2018