Small business Borrowing Slows, yet at the same time Small Business borrowing rises.
Have you ever noticed how the exact same piece of underlying data can be interpreted and then spun in seemingly exact opposite directions?
It depends on how the data is interpreted and what particular spin that writer/reporter, editor and publication want to put onto the data.
How about the data surrounding how small businesses borrow money?
On the surface it wouldn’t seem like that would be a controversial topic that needed to be spun, but apparently it does, depending on the particular agenda a publication is trying to get across.
Case in point the 2 headlines that I saw today based upon the exact same data.
The Huffington Post is reporting on their website that
Small Business Borrowing Slows In November
You can read the full article here.
At the same time reuters.com, who happens to be the source of the data through their PayNet Small Business Lending Index, is reporting that
Small-business borrowing rises in November
Check their full article here.
On first glance the 2 headlines appear to contradict each other, at least they did for me.
But upon further thought and analysis, both headlines are technically correct.
As Reuters says, borrowing did rise. It was up 1% in November vs. what small businesses borrowed in October and up 3% vs. November last year, but as pointed out by the Huffington Post, it rose at a significantly slower pace than October’s 11% increase.
I guess it pays to get your news from a broad range of sources in order to get the full picture of what is really going on independent of the spin a particular news outlet is trying to put onto the data.
Otherwise you would have no idea based upon the headlines if the news was good or bad for the economy as Small business Borrowing Slows sounds like we need to hunker down and be afraid of what’s coming next, while Small Business borrowing rises seems like the boom times must be back and we should be excited.
Please tweet to your followers and like my post if you got some good info out of it. I’d also like to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
Have A Prosperous Day!