The Washington Post reported that Republicans hold “deep skepticism” over whether an extension of payroll tax breaks would spur economic growth, without citing a single economist to weigh in on the question:

Senate Democratic leaders met with Obama on Wednesday at the White House to weigh whether to drop their demand that the $120 billion payroll tax cut be paid for with a new surtax on millionaires. Republicans have rejected the idea, but it was not clear Wednesday whether a concession from Democrats would be enough to produce a deal.

Many Republicans express deep skepticism that extending the payroll tax cut would spark economic growth, as the president and Democrats have argued.

It is not only President Obama and Democrats that have argued that cutting the payroll tax would help economic growth. Economists Nouriel Roubini, Paul Krugman, Peter Orszag, Robert Reich, and others have argued that payroll tax cuts create jobs and economic growth. The Economic Policy Institute reported in September that renewing the payroll tax cut “would increase employment by roughly one million jobs in 2012.”

The Washington Post's failure to have economists opine on this issue is disconcerting. During the debt ceiling debate this past summer, only 4.1 percent of the guests during segments of cable news shows when the debt ceiling was discussed were economists. In 2009, the media ignored economists when cable news and Sunday talk shows discussed the debate over economic stimulus, and when other media outlets declared the stimulus a failure. The media again ignored economists in 2010 when reporting on the debate over a proposed federal spending freeze.