Brian Wesbury

From financial pundit extraordinare Brian Wesbury, as of March 1, 2012: "The bottom line is that even though Bernanke wants to make the case for QE3, he can’t. In fact, better news on the economy has cut the Fed off from doing more massive easing projects. In the end, we believe the Fed has finally run out of justification for its excessively easy monetary policy. As the quarters ahead unfold, the prospects of more ease will continue to wane. This is good news for stocks – which do not do well with accelerating inflation – but, it is bad news for gold. Gold is done….and so is the Fed." Oops.

Presenting, with little comment, the ultimate arbiter of the truth - First Trust's Brian Wesbury - discussing his "Mark-to-Market accounting is to blame for it all; the economy is fine and is not reliant on Fed QE; 80,000 jobs creating; Facebook wealth-building" view of the non-zombie economy. So we presume: Forget China, ignore Europe, the fiscal-cliff is a molehill, and once the government stops spending/growing (which is his angle) then all will be well with this thoroughbred economy - as opposed to his non-zombie plough-horse (that unfortunately just leads us down a path of low/slow growth, labor force participation-lagging, deficit spending, social welfare dependent dysphoria).

I think we are all suffering from a bad case of economic hypochondria...

On the surface, the decrease in unemployment and the increase in factory orders seem encouraging. But if we dig a little deeper, the numbers tell a different story. Much of these "gains" relate to stimulus and aren't real and will dissipate once stimulus wears off.

Why do economists keep getting it wrong? How can we ever trust what they say again after their miserable performance before the crash? They see what they want to see. Sheep. If we've learned anything it's to ignore mainstream economists. Listen to the outliers because the mainstream never gets it right. Here's today's data brought to you by an outlier. Remember to be skeptical.

A few brave economists believe fiscal and monetary stimulus, as well as improved productivity, will help the United States bounce back stronger than anticipated, helping it to leap hurdles such as high unemployment, a soaring budget deficit and a beleaguered consumer.