I guess words do matter: As we start our way down, we are finding out who are the Ultimate Marketers

Unless you’re in a cave, thanks the credit markets the global economy is on the rocks. I have always marveled at the carefully chosen words of our politicians or economists. BTW, not just in trying times but all the time. Right now, my most uncomfortable laughs are coming from the pundits regarding the current financial mess. I especially enjoyed this, so this pundit Martin Feldman from Harvard is the first one to declare a recession. Here is my favorite though:
Martin Feldman on Bloomberg.com (read article here):

Harvard University economist Martin Feldstein, a member of the group that dates business cycles in the U.S., said the nation has entered a recession that could be the worst since World War II.

I didn’t have perfect grades, but wasn’t the recession during World War II known as the “Great Depression”? Way to go out on a limb there Marty! Of course he prefaces it with “could”.

Even more hilarious is our boy Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulsen.

From Bloomberg.com also:

“We have slowed down very significantly. I’m not getting into’ whether it is a recession.

That’s a good one. Our guy whose job it is to keep our economy safe is going with a “no comment”.

Bottom line, you gotta be an idiot to not see that the sh__ is hitting the fan. Pundits and politicians know full well what is going down, but their job is to couch hysteria so they have to choose their words careful.

Here are the translations:

What Feldman really said was: We are headed into a financial cycle close to or worse than the Great Depression

What Paulsen really said was: We are clearly in recession, I am too dumb to consider the Great Depression, all my buddies work on Wall Street so I gotta keep the markets pumped up, and I am not going to be the one to call this what it is.

Ahh, the beauty of words. So why does the Funnelholic weigh in? Well, I for one while “growing up” professionally in the valley used to laugh at marketing folks worrying about every word, but when I was finally an adult I realized the importance. Now, I notice it all the time. you might say, well, I am not that dumb I am not falling for this, but the truth of the matter is there has not been a massive sell-off yet and people aren’t fully freaking out so their words are likely working against the mass public. (BTW, words can only hold reality for “that long” (imagine me barely holding my two fingers apart). Funnelholic learning: Words do matter.