JREF Swift Blog

ABC Reports Psychics Contributing to Bad Economy

ABC News reports in this article that at least one pyschic business is up at least 7% due to the economic crisis. My question for ABC is... why is this news? First off, it's old news. Second, why is it news at all? If anything, the story should read "Psychics Make a Bad Situation Worse." Why? Because they're taking money from people who are having money problems, and giving them advice that they're unqualified to give.

I'd love to do this test, if it were possible. Give two people $100. One them will use the $100 to get a reading about their financial future from a psychic, and the other will invest it in an index fund; let's say the Nasdaq. If we compare the results in two years, who's going to be ahead? Even if the market goes down, I'm going to guess the investor will be ahead, because you can bet the psychic is going to encourage repeat visits, and that original $100 is never going to come back.

As if that's not bad enough, check out this quote:

Laura Day, who prefers to be called an "intuitive" rather than a psychic, said high-end businesses are seeking her aid.

She said she advises up to five corporate clients at a time, and the service doesn't come cheaply. Day charges $10,000 monthly for her services and claimed her intuitiveness has served her well in her own financial life.

Her "intuitiveness" has another word: ruthlessness. Of course it's helping her... she's raping companies for $10,000 a month. No wonder we're in a financial crisis.

If my tone is coming across as angry, that's accurate. ABC News is promoting psychic services with this piece, and their "other side of the story" bit doesn't come close to balancing their message, which is "Hey, people and corporations are going to psychics during this troubled time, you should too!"

One of the people they interviewed under the heading "Critics Cry Fowl" is actually Laura Day, who says: "Unless someone is tried and true, you should take what anyone says with a grain of salt."

Psychics have been "tried" for centuries, and they've never been "true." Juju Chang, Thea Trachtenberg, and Imaeyen Ibanga should be embarased by this article, and ABC News should be ashamed of publishing it, in my opinion.

