ABSTRACT
Emily Moon understood key principles of business journalism: People have to put numbers into greater context of the industry and global economy. And the best way to help our audience understand is to “put a face” on the statistics by finding the people who are most affected by the storms. For the US corn farmer, sale of their fall harvests will determine if they can buy a new John Deere tractor or make payments on land mortgages. Investment banks and other firms hire people to crunch the numbers on what companies are expected to sell and earn in upcoming quarters. The Federal Reserve’s “Beige Book” report is based on conversations with merchants, farmers and bankers, among others, to get anecdotal or qualitative examples to help put a face on economic data in each district. Likewise “housing starts” measure the number of new houses being built, which shows contractors and developers are optimistic about future sales of new vs. existing homes.
