Business Insight Zone

We’re living through an economy that’s evolving, uh, rapidly, not to say vertiginously.

Lots of comfortable notions we held about markets and industries have been broken down over the past year.

Housing, consumer goods, energy, automobiles, employment, credit markets . . . all of them are up in the air in important ways.

Sure, try to get the best insights you can from experts. Find economic news that’s relevant to you and make the best use of it you can.

But in these tumultuous days, be wary about headlines that report “unexpected” results in Economic Indicator X. Two examples from this morning:

• U.S. Economy: Goods Orders Unexpectedly Jump as Recession Eases
• Purchase of new homes in the U.S. unexpectedly fell in May

Each of these stories has something interesting to convey, but the most interesting part may not be that the indicator in question did something that the experts weren’t expecting.

The most interesting part may be that the entire fabric of our expectations will continue to be rumpled and pleated by the complexities of the economic relationships that prevail in today’s world.

Here’s the best “unexpected” headline I’ve found this week:

• Trichet Says Unexpected Turmoil Could Hamper Recovery

You’d better believe it.

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Monty Python image (”No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!) via Wikipedia.

Category: Economics, Media