WE'VE been served nauseating amounts of spin in recent weeks from either side of the debate about what's causing climate change and what to do about it, while we've watched a major political party implode.
At the same time, we keep getting layers of sugar coating about the health and pace of economic recovery.
Every now and then there's some sobering reality that reminds us of the depth of trouble in which financial systems remain.
Some interesting analysis surfaced last week of the realistic picture that is below the surface of official numbers.
The latest unemployment numbers from the national statistician look as if they might have "peaked" at around 6 per cent, a level much lower than ever imagined when we entered the slowdown early last year.
The ABS numbers even suggested the economy is putting people into work rather than the reverse.
But deeper analysis shows much of the new employment occurred in part-time positions.
Work done by the Workplace Research Centre at Sydney University adds some insights to the situation.
The effects of the stimulus on the economy might be tailing off, but activity has been wound back to a lower level.
At the same time, there's an increase in the percentage of the workforce that is technically in employment but find or feel themselves in a vulnerable position on casual or part-time terms.
So what does this mean? The retail food market has been subdued for most of this year.
Our own analysis of household spending in the September quarter has found things are still fairly tight for the average household.
Average spending actually fell for that period when in past years, before the hard times bit, there was a traditional lift in food spending in the second half of the year that kicks off in the third quarter.
The evidence of tightening shows up in several aspects of spending and shopping patterns, but frugal behaviour looks reasonably entrenched.
The patterns that large retailers are seeing in their business are also significant to food suppliers.
Recent guarded comments from the boss of Woolworths are relevant, as he talked of the worrisome frugality that he feared would "stick" in behaviour for some time.
Retailers have helped the consumer find value - the worry is that they seem pretty happy to stay there, and they might be hard to shift.
While the Reserve Bank boss heralds a new era of growth for the economy, the spin about the goodness of growth will come well ahead of the real changes that will restore better margins along the food chain.
