07/05/06 Economists

Economists Economists and marketing specialists do confuse me. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be back in one minute to tell you why I'm confused if I can just figure out the reason Livestock market analysts and economists have a very easy time confusing me. I only had two economic classes in college spaced out by about two years, so I blame my limited economics education for my confusion. That's one thing I like about the mind-set of the world today, I can always blame something for my shortcomings  it's a good card to have in your hand. My confusion couldn't possibly be a result of my limited mental prowess or the fact I pay more attention to production than marketing economics. Anyway, here is an example of my confusion when I read economist reports. A recent article in Beef magazine stated beef demand is down by 4.5 percent in the year's first quarter while consumption is up, but a decline in inflation adjusted prices means demand is down, although still well ahead of 1998 when demand turned the corner upward. That's pretty clear to me. Then a statement later in the article says one quarter doesn't make a trend. It seemed to me every time a specialist made a statement there were about four "depending-ons" that followed. One thing I have noticed is that it seems economic analysts are everywhere if the market even hints it might go lower and if you ran them all down a sorting alley you better have a bigger holding pen for the pessimists than the optimists. I'm Jeff Keane. Beef  June 2006