Reporters ALWAYS Get This Wrong!

The headline blares, "Gas Prices Down on Lower Demand." What caused that lower demand, according to the story? The higher price of gas, of course. Do I detect circular reasoning here?

Every good principles of economics text emphasizes the distinction between a change in demand and a change in quantity demanded. Newspaper reporters must have slept through Economics 101 the day that topic was covered.

What the reporter in the linked story was trying to say is that the higher price of gas reduced the quantity demanded. Of course, the source quoted in the story, the Lundberg Report, fed the reporter the wrong interpretation of events:

This is the first significant price drop in retail gasoline this year,"said Lundberg. It's not possible to quantify, but demand for gasoline is surely being dampened by high prices to a level lower than it would have been.

Here's an easy homework assignment or quick in-class assignment for your Economics 101 students. Give students the quote and ask them to tell you what's wrong.