Glenn Beck, On A Lift, Shows America His Hockey Stick Graph

video

by Frances Martel | 7:49 am, June 30th, 2010

» 11 comments

The list of things Glenn Beck wouldn’t do on his program to make a point clearer to his audience is ever-shrinking. Yesterday, Beck crossed “ride a stage lift high into the ceiling of his studio, to stick red tape to the highest point in the room” off that list, all in the name of the free market. It was the only way to accurately depict his “hockey stick graph” of global per capita GDP throughout history.

The “hockey stick graph” idea comes from Al Gore, whose graph of global warming over time, because of its relative consistency until late in history, looked like a hockey stick. Glenn Beck’s chart also looks like this, and chronicles global per capita GDP beginning at 500 BC. While remaining relatively stable for thousands of years, it begins to skyrocket in the 1800s– the Industrial Revolution, or “when America and the free market started falling in love.” The rise is so steep that Beck needs a lift to put the chart’s line in its proper place, which means there is great footage of Glenn Beck in motion (think Glenn Beck interviewing John Stossel on a scooter), floating into the sky on a mechanical lift and conducting his show, essentially, from the ceiling.

Video from yesterday’s program below:

Al Gore, fox news, Free Market, GDP, Glenn Beck, Hockey Stick Graph

Pablo

The “hockey stick graph” idea comes from Al Gore, whose graph of global warming over time, because of its relative consistency until late in history, looked like a hockey stick.

Michael Mann? Never heard of him.
http://SailRabbits.com Magister

er… Mr Beck: The Industrial Revolution?
Liberty Banned

So? Was his info inaccurate? Has not the global GDP increased? Oh and Al Gore’s hockey stick claim has been debunked.
http://SailRabbits.com Magister

…and that’s not even considering the accuracy of a Global GDP estimate for 5000 B.C.?
http://SailRabbits.com Magister

@Liberty Banned: Productivity increased because machines started doing more of the work. I don’t know if you remember, but back during the recovery from the first GWB recession (which actually started under Clinton), Alan Greenspan and the Fed kept reporting per-worker productivity increases, which enabled a jobless recovery.

As the machines made people more and more productive, the world’s GDP naturally rose and perhaps all of this free-flowing wealth drove up the demand for a “free market”, much as it has been doing in China, but it was the machines and increased trade that started the ball.
http://SailRabbits.com Magister

I mean, he’s giving credit for his “hockey stick” to a global free market that didn’t exist 200 years ago and though we’re much closer now (because of trade pacts and globalization), we’re still not to a worldwide free market, but you can buy MS Windows in all but a handful of nations.
MichelleF

Liberty Banned says:
June 30, 2010 at 8:17 am
0 0
So? Was his info inaccurate? Has not the global GDP increased? Oh and Al Gore’s hockey stick claim has been debunked.

LB, Frances doesn’t concern herself with such details, that’s what a REAL journalist would do. The only point of the piece was to make fun of Beck.
mproust

I agree with MichelleF, Frances only watches Glenn Beck so he can make fun of him. Mr. Beck’s assertions, claims, and predictions are almost aways spot-on; no matter, this site only exists for liberal humor. I wonder why most people responding to stories always are so reverential to Dan Abrams. I think he’s allowed this site to stray far away from any responsible journalism, sort of what happened to MSNBC.
Danimal98367

M-kay, so the industrial revolution is also a factor – a greater factor. The fact is that America saw THE highest growth in that era – as a result of the industrialization + free market + American Republic governance + American ingenuity. I wish Glenn hadn’t sold out the IR part of the argument to make his case, it wasn’t necessary.

Still, the facts are accurate. Poverty was (is) the norm. Prosperity is not. We focus so much on the small grains of strife and ‘wrong’ that we lose sight of how much is so, so right about Capitalism and Free Trade.
http://none pyrope

“Ever shrinking audience?” If you’ll note, ALL audiences are shrinking–Beck’s no more than anyone elses. It’s summertime.
http://none pyrope

Fox News Extends Lead, But All Cable News Networks See Ratings Decline
» 33 commentsby Steve Krakauer | 1:49 pm, June 29th, 2010

Posted today on Media Lite