Decisions, Decisions

Economy Grows Briskly in 3rd Quarter reads the hed on a story by Nell Henderson with a modest banner on top of... the Business section, D1.

It wouldn't kill you to run this on A1--or would it?

We could have been spared Peter Baker's carping in an "analysis" of President Bush's latest speech, An Offering of Detail But No New Substance.

Henderson:

The U.S. economy expanded rapidly in the summer and early fall, despite the devastation and disruption of the Gulf Coast hurricanes, the government reported yesterday, significantly boosting its earlier growth estimate.

The economy heated up in July and August, as consumers snapped up discounted cars, businesses loaded up on new equipment and software, and builders invested more heavily in a hot housing market. But many analysts had worried about the possibility of a sharp slowdown after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast Aug. 29, wiping out hundreds of thousands of jobs and damaging oil rigs, gasoline refineries, pipelines, chemical plants, roads, bridges, ports and railroad tracks. Energy prices skyrocketed and stayed high when Hurricane Rita hit in late September.

Yet the economy performed "amazingly well," said Stuart G. Hoffman, chief economist at PNC Financial Services Group. Since September, he said, other reports showing healthy retail spending, factory orders and home sales suggest that "the economy's growth is on a pretty solid track."

Musn't distract the proles with too much good news! Later, we will read stories about low approval ratings for President Bush.

Update: As I write this, the growing-economy story isn't even featured on washingtonpost.com's home page for business.