Root Cause Analysis Not Journalists' Core Competency

Following is a quote from a leading trade show update, providing readers with the mood/state of industry felt by the attendees:

"Better productivity, lean manufacturing, and cost-effective staffing are holding back job creation continuing to put a pall on the industry in general."

Normally, this wouldn't bother me...but this is the kind of nonsense that gets reported frequently in the news and gets under my skin...

First of all, a "pall" can either be used a noun or a verb. In the context above, the definition of a pall is: "dark covering", or, a dark veil, dark cloud, a shroud or blanket.

So, let me get this straight...better productivity results in a looming dark cloud over industry in general?

Lean manufacturing is the cause of the dark veil put over the job market?

Cost effective staffing is the reason for the shroud keeping back the recovery?

In other words, industry and industry alone is to blame for the slow recovery. This is the conclusion that is drawn from a journalist who is surrounded by thousands of people at a leading manufacturing trade show? There aren't any other underlying factors people are willing to discuss, except to stay on the surface and blame (usually ill implemented) lean manufacturing techniques?

I hope that "cost effective staffing" is the reason behind the lack of editing this garbage and not malevolence. Or do people in industry and journalism really blame lean manufacturing, productivity gains and core staffing as the culprit?

If so, than we have got a bigger problem on our hands...like not understanding basic economics.