Maybe not everyone's lying to you, but it sure does seem that way.

You don't have to go far to catch an earful of big-fish stories and half-baked forecasts coming out of Wall Street, Washington, and the boob tube.

Should you believe that CIT Group 's (NYSE: CIT) $3 billion lifeline will magically ward off bankruptcy? Or can you trust that Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) will continue to print money even when credit spreads tighten and companies don't have to raise as much capital?

Everyone has some vested interest coloring his or her version of the truth. Whether it's padding their pockets, protecting their reputations, or making headlines, everyone has a motive. The trick is to separate motives from facts. While aligning your interests with the truth doesn't guarantee success, it surely beats chasing down a pack of lies.

Here are three economic fibs that you should disregard.

Lie No. 1 -- Consumer spending will solve our problems.
While the National Retail Federation may love articles like Newsweek's “Stop Saving Now,” such commentaries are reckless attempts to re-inflate the consumer credit bubble and inflate readership. In this particular essay, the author goes as far as to label savers as "hoarders" and encourage businesses “to roll the dice.”

On the contrary, consumers and businesses need to spend prudently, save frequently, and invest intelligently. Thankfully, consumers are earning pennies for their frugal thoughts, as they appear to have discounters like Family Dollar (NYSE: FDO) and Big Lots (NYSE: BIG) on their minds.

By contrast, a luxury retailer such as Tiffany (NYSE: TIF) risks becoming an icon of our lost era of conspicuous consumption. If anything, consumers have put down credit cards and taken up more ways to save money.

Automotive research firm R. L. Polk & Company sees consumers â??hunkering downâ? as they keep their existing cars much longer. It's little wonder that automotive parts and accessory provider AutoZone (NYSE: AZO) has nearly doubled from its 52-week lows. Thrifty is the new green!

Lie No. 2 -- Housing will bounce back.
Real estate doesn't bounce. Not only is appreciation dead for now, it may never have existed. Dennis Cauchon makes that point in a USA TODAY report called "Why home values may take decades to recover." His data show that "the average annual investment return from 1950-2000 was less than one-half of 1% per year, after adjusting for inflation."

Housing has two major purposes: as a place to live and as an investment. When you buy a home to live in, your goal is to acquire a dwelling that brings you pleasure and carries a cost of ownership that is competitive with what you would otherwise pay in rent.

If you buy for investment purposes, you need to perform a discounted cash flow analysis based on the estimated rental cash flows. Either way, appreciation should not be part of the equation.

So, with unemployment on the rise and housing inventories still sky-high, you need to think twice before jumping into any homebuilding stock. (Ironically, with rock-bottom interest rates, one-time tax credits, and falling prices, there's never been a better time to buy your first home.) Continued...