Here’s Jim Geraghty of the National Review:
We’ve reached the point where Biden administration officials, Democrats, and pro-Biden columnists are tearing their hair out, furious that the electorate perceives the economy as being subpar. But if you look in the right places, the economic frustration makes perfect sense — and those right places include grocery prices since before the pandemic, the number of new jobs that are part-time jobs, the current high gas prices and likely summer price hikes, how inflation counteracts the good recent run of the stock market, and how many people owe more in car payments than the worth of their automobiles. Americans measure the economy by a lot more than just the unemployment rate, and no amount of wishing, ranting, or berating is going to get them to change their minds about how they perceive their household finances.
I hope you see the problem here. Americans rate their “household finances” as good, it’s the overall economy they view as poor. No amount of ranting and berating from Jim Geraghty will change that fact. Here’s Axios:
By the numbers: 63% of Americans rate their current financial situation as being “good,” including 19% of us who say it’s “very good.”
Neither number is particularly low: They’re both entirely in line with the average result the past 20 times Harris Poll has asked this question.
The survey’s findings were based on a nationally representative sample of 2,120 U.S. adults conducted online between Dec. 15-17, 2023. (More on the methodology.)
Americans view the economy as poor partly because of the inflation and partly because they hate Biden. Americans view their personal finances as good because their incomes have generally risen faster than the cost of living since the pre-Covid period. (Comparisons with early 2021 are meaningless, as the data was heavily distorted by Covid.)
PS. Biden’s economic policies are really bad, but for reasons that have nothing to do with the current state of the economy.
PPS. Trump has a 6-part plan to bring down inflation:
1. Favors NIMBY policies to prevent housing construction in the suburbs.
2. Expel all the illegal workers that pick our food and provide other key services.
3. Put heavy tariffs on imported food and other goods.
4. Have Medicare do less negotiation of drug prices.
5. Run super massive budget deficits.
6. Easy money.
What? You don’t think that will work?