June 11, 2004
6/11 - John Kerry Talks About Shifting Baselines!
On Friday John Kerry said, "The news this week of an increase in jobs is a case of 'shifting baselines'."
Really? Okay, not really, but if I were his speech writer that is what he would have said because it's what he meant. He was pointing out how the slight increase in jobs reported this week is negligible compared to the large decline over the past 3 years. THAT is shifting baselines. He was urging the public to set their baseline at 3 years ago, rather than allowing it to shift to 3 months ago. This is yet another example of how important and powerful this term is. It is a very useful concept in critical thinking and there are countless examples of shifting baselines that arise in day to day life.
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