Post by @TheDavidPiv
69% credible (77% factual, 56% presentation). The factual data on LSAT registrations from September 2024 to September 2025 is accurate, but the claim that increased registrations indicate economic disaster is misleading and lacks evidence. The post's framing suggests a false causal link, contradicting standard economic interpretations where higher enrollments signal optimism.
Analysis Summary
The post shares an image from Harper's Magazine showing a significant increase in LSAT registrations from 18,811 in September 2024 to 32,170 in September 2025, claiming this as a top indicator of impending economic disaster. This interpretation is misleading, as rising registrations typically signal growing interest in legal education and economic optimism rather than downturn. Opposing views highlight that such trends reflect positive labor market expectations in professional fields, with no established link to economic collapse.
Original Content
The Facts
The factual data on LSAT registrations appears accurate based on the cited source, but the claim linking an increase to economic disaster lacks evidence and contradicts standard economic interpretations where higher enrollments in professional programs indicate confidence in future job prospects. Overall verdict: Misleading
Benefit of the Doubt
The author advances a conservative-leaning narrative portraying subtle economic shifts as harbingers of crisis to critique broader systemic issues, possibly implying oversupply in legal professions or unrelated policy failures. Key omission: No explanation of why increased registrations signal disaster, ignoring positive contexts like post-pandemic recovery in education and employment outlooks. This selective framing amplifies alarmism, shaping perception toward pessimism without balanced data on trends like law school applications or graduate employment rates.
Visual Content Analysis
Images included in the original content
VISUAL DESCRIPTION
A screenshot of a Harper's Magazine social media post on a light blue background, displaying two statistics on LSAT registrations for September 2024 and 2025, with the magazine's logo and follow button visible; no people, locations, or events depicted, just textual data and source attribution.
TEXT IN IMAGE
Number of people who registered to take the LSAT in September 2024: 18,811 Who registered to take the LSAT in September 2025: 32,170 Source: Law School Admission Council (Newtown, Pa.)
MANIPULATION
No signs of editing, inconsistencies, or artifacts; the image appears to be a genuine screenshot of a social media post with consistent formatting and no visual anomalies.
TEMPORAL ACCURACY
The data covers September 2024 and 2025, and with the current date being October 2025, the 2025 figures are recent and timely; the post is dated 1 day ago, aligning with real-time reporting.
LOCATION ACCURACY
The image depicts statistical data without any geographical elements or claimed locations, so spatial framing is not applicable.
FACT-CHECK
The numbers align with reports from the Law School Admission Council (LSAC); reverse image search context confirms similar posts from Harper's Magazine in October 2025 discussing rising LSAT interest, verifying the data's accuracy but not the post's interpretive claim of economic disaster.
How Is This Framed?
Biases, omissions, and misleading presentation techniques detected
The post implies a direct causal link between rising LSAT registrations and economic disaster without any evidence, reversing standard interpretations where such increases signal optimism.
Problematic phrases:
"one of the best indicators of impending economic disaster"What's actually there:
Rising registrations indicate growing interest in legal education and positive job market expectations
What's implied:
Surge predicts economic collapse
Impact: Misleads readers into perceiving a causal relationship that fosters unwarranted economic pessimism and fear of downturn.
Fails to provide context that increased LSAT registrations typically reflect economic confidence, post-pandemic recovery, and strong demand for legal professionals, omitting counter-evidence like employment trends.
Problematic phrases:
"This is one of the best indicators"What's actually there:
Higher enrollments correlate with optimism in professional sectors; no historical link to disasters
What's implied:
Indicator of crisis without qualifiers
Impact: Readers are left with an unbalanced, alarmist view, interpreting the data as negative without understanding positive implications, reinforcing biased narratives.
Uses dramatic language to create false immediacy around a neutral educational trend, portraying it as an urgent harbinger of disaster.
Problematic phrases:
"impending economic disaster"What's actually there:
Gradual enrollment increase over a year, not tied to immediate crisis
What's implied:
Sudden, looming threat
Impact: Heightens perceived immediacy, prompting reactive fear rather than measured analysis of long-term economic indicators.
Cherry-picks LSAT registration numbers from one source while neglecting broader context like overall law school applications, graduate outcomes, or comparative enrollment in other fields.
Problematic phrases:
"significant increase... from 18,811... to 32,170"What's actually there:
Isolated metric; total law school apps and job market data show stability or growth
What's implied:
Representative of widespread economic signal
Impact: Exaggerates the scope of the trend as a major economic red flag, distorting perception of its isolated significance.
Sources & References
External sources consulted for this analysis
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4807925/
https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1093/reep/rez004
https://currents.plos.org/disasters/article/a-comparative-analysis-of-disaster-risk-vulnerability-and-resilience-composite-indicators/
https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1093/reep/rez004
https://www.stlouisfed.org/publications/regional-economist/april-1994/the-economics-of-natural-disasters
https://www.eiu.com/n/solutions/viewpoint/economic-indicators-database/
https://www.bundesbank.de/resource/blob/925504/2e782be55aeb9f31285c406b2f8b72d3/mL/2024-12-13-dkp-45-data.pdf
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/3/868
https://www.insightssuccess.in/early-indicators-predict-economic-crisis/
https://appliednetsci.springeropen.com/articles/10.1007/s41109-020-00280-4
https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/article/recession-indicators-how-do-we-know-if-the-economy-is-in-trouble/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2212420916300644
https://www.jmir.org/2025/1/e59111
https://www.focus-economics.com/blog/economic-indicators-for-recession/
https://x.com/TheDavidPiv/status/1833588537591263617
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https://x.com/TheDavidPiv/status/1884815182935024126
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https://x.com/TheDavidPiv/status/1938297127047983214
https://x.com/TheDavidPiv/status/1900242431360327963
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