I think it is not only economic news, but most news at all. The difference is simply that modesty is seen in parts of Europe as virtue, while in the US as a flaw. I don't see any more conspiracy behind it than simple cultural issues. Der Amerikaner ist die Orchidee unter den MenschenVolker Pispers
There is something to that, at least as something neoliberalism could capitalise on initially when seducing our economic elites.
However, such a simple difference doesn't explain that at the same time, the British and US business media managed to praise each others' economies, too, while our own managed to also praise those two and speak of impending doom in various other continental European countries (well, this last one maybe not that consistently in the last few years).
You don't need to think of a conspiracy to explain this. All it takes is for people to think in the same narrow framework, and notice all evidence that seems to fit it and be blind to everything else, not to mention noticing other patterns. In other words, Zeitgeist is enough. *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
People think in these frameworks because others are more complicated. How is the GDP calculated? Is GDP a better measurement of wealth than GDP/capita? What are these public deficit numbers and which future liabilities come with payroll tax income of the US state? How is unemployment measured? Can a country become rich by selling each other more and more expensive houses? How much is the state quote and what services is the state paying with the money it gets. Which quality does these services have and who benefits most from them? I think you expect too much from the everyday press, if you ask for taking such questions into account. Der Amerikaner ist die Orchidee unter den MenschenVolker Pispers
And imagine the US paying for a crash programme to bring Mexico to the same standard of living and infrastructure as the USA in a few years. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
I think you expect too much from the everyday press, if you ask for taking such questions into account.
Then the press is (has become?) simply another venue of bread and circus. Do you think that that is a fitting epitaph for the democratic experiment?
- Jake If you only spend 20 minutes of the rest of your life on economics, go spend them here.