TOW #3: Article (Fed Too Familiar With Lost Labor Seeking New Message for Policy)

Caroline Salas Gage, author of "Fed Too Familiar With Lost Labor Seeking New Messages for Policy," has written for Bloomberg Businessweek since at least July 2011, making her a relatively credible source. The article was written in response to the Federal Reserve's decision to rely less upon the national unemployment rate as a measure of economic success. Gage tries to persuade readers that the Federal Reserve made a mistake in choosing the unemployment rate as an indicator of the current economy and guideline for policy-making. Gage appeals to logos frequently by writing statistics into every paragraph, quoting numbers such as the unemployment rate of each month this summer from June to August (7.6%, 7.4%, and 7.3%) and the Federal Open Market Committee's bond-buying rate ($85 billion per month). She also quotes experts on the article's topic, making sure to establish their ethos through a proper introduction. For example, she quoted Ethan Harris, "co-head of global economics research at Bank of America Corp. in New York." I'm not sure if this next tool has a specific literary term, but videos of several speeches that she mentions can be found on the side of the article, giving the reader extra context if they feel they need it.

I chose this article specifically because I thought it would be boring, and I was correct. I'm sure its intended audience of business-minded BusinessWeek readers take away exactly what Gage intended, but I personally didn't care and was more than a bit lost. Her typical audience would have a frame of reference for the statistics that Gage was so fond of including, but I would have needed them to be thoroughly explained. I think even the common person would have difficulty understanding the article; only a businessperson would really understand and care about her message. That being said, she seems to argue and support her point well.

According to BusinessWeek, this is Ben S. Bernanke, Chairman of the Federal Reserve.

I'll take their word for it.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-29/fed-too-familiar-with-lost-labor-seeking-new-message-for-policy.html