Sanctions Against Iran Lose the U.S. More than 40 Percent of the Exports Supported by the Export-Import Bank

Sanctions Against Iran Lose the U.S. More than 40 Percent of the Exports Supported by the Export-Import Bank

Dean Baker, Beat the Press, Friday, 18 July 2014

http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/sanctions-against-iran-lose-the-us-more-than-40-percent-of-the-exports-supported-by-the-export-import-bank

Regular readers of Beat the Press know that putting numbers in context is one of my main beefs with economic reporting. News stories, especially about government budget items, routinely throw out big numbers are completely meaningless to almost everyone who reads or hears them. That is not serious reporting. Reporting is about informing your audience. (This is why I use the term "frat boy reporting" to refer to the use of big numbers without context. It conforms to a ritual among reporters, but it does not provide information.)