A Bit More Seriously Than They Deserve, Even
If Hassett really does want to claim that zero is a number strikingly similar to +140,000, and that +150,000 is a number strikingly similar to +320,000, he is free to do so. And I am free to take such claims with the seriousness that they deserve.
Brad DeLong in a long, serious entry on why +140,000 is not, in fact, similar to zero.