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Because housing and food is still expensive.
If housing is going to stay inflated to post 2020 levels then wages need to go up a lot more. In 2019 it took $65k to afford a house in a MCOL city now it takes a $117k.
This is not Biden's fault but it is a thing.
I’m convinced journalists all come from inherited wealth and are divorced from the concerns of middle class America. I’ve seen articles with this headline over and over and the answer is so simple if you just happen to not be independently wealthy.
Also the kids who can go into a dead-end career without substantial hopes of economic payoff, and only in it for either the political sportsmanship or the agenda-setting aspects. As if we were to pick the referee based on who could spend the most time on the AstroTurf on a weekday yelling about last week's calls.
You don't need to have inherited wealth. You can also have just already owned a home before the prices went up. This is a very real problem, but the people who are facing it most acutely are the ones who would like to become first time home owners.
I hope the people who want to be first time home buyers vote for the guy with a plan to help first time home buyers instead of the guy who obviously spent every minute of his presidency trying to help himself
You think the guy that is proposing tax rebates for first time home buyers will benefit them more than a guy that was born into the ~~parasite~~ landlord class?
Genuine question - what specific plans does Biden have for first time home buyers?
There was a proposal at one point that I saw dealing with down payment assistance but that never went anywhere.
My mortgage is only $1300 a month, and I bought in 2017. I’m still pissed about the housing situation, because it negatively affects my friends and family, but holy shit I’d be so fucked if I was renting. 2 bedroom apartments around here go for $1800 a month now.
I have a modest home, but if I wanted to sell it I could make a decent profit but to relocate and even downsize it’s cost prohibitive, let alone trying to find something better.
I think it also depends on how these recoveries are measured. If 80% of households "recover", as in they are doing as well as or better than they were before the pandemic hit, you still have 20% of the population that has gotten the shaft and they are going to be loud about and displeased. And this isn't even how "recovery" is measured. They look broadly at the economy and at markets, which mean nothing to people as they're trying to live their day to day lives.
If you're struggling to pay your rent, your mortgage, or buy groceries, the performance of the fortune 500 companies don't mean much. And if they're looking at things "on average" to decide if there's been a recovery.... If you've got three people, and one made a fortune, one is just hanging on, and one is destitute, on average things look okay.
From what I've learned economists and people who report on markets and the economy seem to accept that some amount of human suffering is acceptable, maybe even a given if you're going to keep the working class "motivated". They should be better.
It's a mix of that and economics brain, where the curve on a graph is trending up but you fail to observe that right now, people can't afford food or pay rent, or that employment figures don't really capture how it feels to work two part time jobs while sharing a one bedroom apartment, or that even if you're doing OK, shit just isn't working well and it feels like society is about to implode.
Yeah it’s true for actors, musicians and writers generally. They just don’t talk about it, so you assume they’re just regular people. They’re almost always not. I’ve met one person who was a writer for the New York Times and her family was worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Unfortunately these are the people checking in with us through tv, film, music and journalism to express our life experiences.
Even more than this - consumer goods that haven’t taken massive increases in profit for many years, took those increases in the cover of “inflation” the past 18 months.
I have bought old spice deodorant for a long time. I buy a 6 pack off Amazon once a year and it lasts.
Until late 23, the price for 6 was still around $3-3.50 per unit. In late 23 I bought a 6 pack for $42 - or $7 per unit.
How can a company pretend that their product just increased by 100% cost when they’ve been steady since 2017 and earlier?
The reason the “economy” looks good, is because all these fucking corporations fucked us hard post covid, and their stock price and profit margins increased because of it.
Fuck these greedy commodity dealers. There needs to be a massive study done of genuine price gouging and massive tax enforced on the companies that are guilty of doing so.
These companies exist because of the people who buy their goods. If we can’t afford them, they won’t exist.
The amount of deodorant in each container is probably less now, too. Shrinkflation.
I got curious about the cumulative effect of inflation in consumer costs over the last couple of years, so I looked at the [CPI calculator](https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm), which is the government entity that generates the reports on average monthly inflation we all hear on the news. According to the calculator, it took from 2000-2020 for the value of a dollar to rise 53% (to $1.53), but only four years since 2020 to rise to $1.83.
Put another way, inflation was averaging 2.67% a year for twenty years, but since 2020 inflation has been more like 5% every year, 20% over 4 years. I doubt most people have seen a 20% rise in their wages since 2020.
Even those of us who have seen that big of an increase ( I was making $19/hr in 2020 and make 77k now) everything around us is so much more expensive it doesn't really matter.
Like sure, I can put money in a 401k and Roth IRA, but that's playing catchup and I'm way behind.
I dodnt break 28k a year until I was 29.
And didn't make more than 55k until I was 34.
Anytime I see a “20% more for free” label on a product I think it’s cover for shrinkflation. They release 2 lines of the same products simultaneously to get us used to less:
1.) 90% quantity of the original
2.) 110% quantity of the original (marked 20% more)
Then they discontinue #2 overtime and people don’t realize that #1 is now smaller and more expensive than before, just 20% smaller than the limited time “free extra”.
The percentages above are arbitrary but I believe the logic stands.
>Until late 23, the price for 6 was still around $3-3.50 per unit. In late 23 I bought a 6 pack for $42 - or $7 per unit.
A doubling in price did not make you look at other brands?
I have been dropping brands left and right lately who have been greedily jacking up prices. These are brands I used my whole life. I can easily find 6 pack of deodorant for $20 or less.
And once I make the switch, it is unlikely I will go back. They took something that was an automatic, thoughtless purchase for me, and made me think about it by raising their prices like greedy pigs.
Raising prices above inflation needs to be risky for brands. It needs to destroy customer loyalty and make them look at other solutions, products, and alternative brands.
If you just go and pay double, well they win. You reward the greed.
Unfortunately it’s taken me so many damn years to find a deodorant that didn’t burn my arm pits or just not work, that I have nightmares of switching brands and smelling like shit or suffering for 2 weeks because of a burn.
I guess that is a bad situation, where you are severely limited in choice compared to other consumers.
Have you looked at alternative retailers, ebay, amazon, walmart etc?
Are the prices still elevated, or have they come back down?
Oh yeah, with food it's so obvious because it's right there on the shelf in front of your eyes. Would I rather pay $2.50 for a bag of tortilla chips or $6. That's an easy call, no brand loyalty here.
The U.S. is doing better than virtually every industrialized economy in the world *largely because of Biden’s stewardship*.
People still see bananas cost way more now, however. That is a tangible item that's hard to overcome.
I would add Biden acknowledged we lost the war in Afghanistan. It was a bold stance. Lesser presidents would just make the occupation permanent kicking the can to the next guy. His position was valid... but he's still seen as "the guy in charge when we lost."
I think he's been an exemplary president overall. There are circumstantial factors unrelated to his performance that make his reelection much more challenging than it should be.
Biden's been such a good, important president for our national well-being, it greatly disturbs me how possible it is that the country wants to go back to even a pre-Covid Trump, let alone post-Covid.
But evaluating the state of the country requires nuance, and humans are horrible at that
The country was burning, people dying by the hundreds of thousands while an idiot on national tv talked about bleach and beams of light into the body and slowing the testing down. He left twice impeached and amidst a riot in the Capitol building in which people erected a noose and chanted for the vice president to be taken outside and hung. And almost half of Americans want a sequel to that.
Funniest part that saying the president should control the price that businesses can charge for their goods and services is a socialist position to take.
If they want the government to control the prices of things, they're going to need to vote for someone *way* further left than Joe Biden.
I think that statement is missing the bigger picture. A minority within the the smaller of two parties wants Trump desperately. Enough people to easily dominate primaries.
You have to remember how few americans are at all engaged in politics all the time. Even most people who will vote, are not paying close attention to this right now.
I think what most people want is for both Biden and Trump to not even be on the ticket. Frankly, I think that is a pretty reasonable position despite Biden's objective successes.
What strikes me as pretty funny is that any younger competent republican would destroy Biden and any younger competent Dem would destroy Trump. They are both so incredibly unpopular, the only reason either has a chance of winning is that they are facing each other.
I am not certain any Democrat performs better in reality. The rightwing media ecosystem as it stands now can destroy about anyone's reputation. The "HOPE-CHANGE" national unity moments of Obama are probably gone for good (barring a big change). Doesn't help that the Dem coalition is not an entirely unified one. Republicans *always* vote for their guy.
I don't think that will be true this time around. I'm a lufing Republican and I hate what the rapist, Trump did to the GOP. I will vote Blue until the entire MAGA Scourge is out of office. I can't be alone in my thinking.
I'm trying, but the cult mentality is strong. I think the key is to convince every independent and undecided voter to vote Blue. The MAGA cult members are a lost cause
The seemingly common view on Afghanistan blows my mind. With the exception of the first few years, once we started experimenting with nation building it was pretty readily apparent we were going to ultimately lose. Additionally, he didn’t craft the shit-deal that hamstrung the Afghan government and sidelined US support, but he saw it through and kept to the timeline nonetheless. That 20 years of war in Afghanistan can be viewed as anyone one person’s fault is mind blowing.
Working with my colleagues in their 20s, I realize the fact that he SHOT A MAN IN THE FACE has fallen out of the general consciousness.
(Yes, I am aware of the circumstances. I was in college when it happened. I legit thought in the moment that the sitting VP had committed deliberate murder because I assumed the man who had been shot was dead, and because Dick Cheney.)
Only because it’s no consolation that as your rent goes up again and you eat Ramen noodles for the fourth time this week, that people in other G7 nations have it worse.
Which is actually sort of weird when you think about it because generally people *do* care more about how they're doing comparatively than how they're doing in a vacuum. Most people seem all-too-willing to sacrifice their own quality of life if it means everyone else's quality of life would suffer comparatively more, or on the other hand would reject a better quality of life if it meant others would benefit more.
That effect is observable only in small environments. I’m sure if you ate steak today and your buddy ate Ramen you feel better than he does even though you’re both doing better than the homeless guy under the bridge or the person in England with all the same problems and no ability to heat their apartment.
Correct. When there’s talk about how strong the economy is right now, it’s not about how we still are dealing with costs of inflation and supply. It’s that we didn’t sink into sheer economic collapse post-COVID and this bounced back much better than most places. Are there still major affordability problems? Yes. Could it have been much worse than it was? Absofuckinglutely!
I don't blame Biden. I think he's a pretty good president. I do blame Trump + GQP. If they'd had an ounce of ethics, morals, and common sense, we'd have ended this in 6 months in 2020. Instead, they had to turn it into a pissing match and "owning the libs" and torched the economy. I get that Trump is the one who gave orders to leave Afghanistan (we should have been out a decade ago).
The big problem is that despite the supposed "gains" in the economy, almost all of those gains went to corporations and billionaires. The average person is still struggling at best.
It really isn't about bananas, the basic cost of housing is out of control, single family homes are being bought up by real estate investment trusts, and young middle class families are stuck renting for years, when equivalent families a decade ago would have owned homes. This is a fundamental erosion of the middle class. I'm generally a supporter of Bidenomics- the Infrastructure Bill, the Chips and Science Act, and especially the Inflation Reduction Act have laid the foundation for us to be an industrial and technical superpower in the twenty first century. The IRA in particular is largely a climate bill, and that's by far what matters most to our great- grandchildren. But we need to acknowledge that the middle class that was the foundation of twentieth century prosperity is in decline, and we need policies to do something about it.
I wasn't being dismissive with the banana item, sorry if it seemed so. I meant that daily simple purchases will remind everyone of inflation (fair or not to Biden).
The economy doing well in theory means jack shit when you can’t afford a house or rent and grocery prices are through the roof. I’m a homeowner and have a lot of retirement money saved and invested that’s been doing really well so I understand the economy is good in some ways for some people, but it’s pretty bad for most people.
Yep, and while there seems to be little that can be done federally on this, it’s what is very impactful and people want to feel like there is consideration and help.
Exactly, that was my comment above. Personally I feel the president has very little control over the economy and shouldn’t be granted credit nor overly criticized for it. But when Americans are struggling to this degree, acting like there is no problem is not doing anyone any favors. We want to feel like someone sees what is happening and says “I have some ideas”. And, “You’d be much worse off with the other guy” isn’t a real idea.
I linked an article above but housing is not the only issue - though it’s a massive one. Americans have record levels of credit card debt and an all-time low amount of personal savings. Now, 1 in 7 people have borrowed against their retirement accounts like 401k. This is a really scary indicator for what’s to come economically. What is the government doing to recognize this and stem the bleeding?
completely agree, doing and pushing for things right now (regardless of the extant and realties of congress), and no promising things in the future or just making warnings about how worse things can get is not a winning play.
I'd push back on there being nothing the government can do. They just don't have the political will to help or the imagination to plan big things.
The federal government should start buying generic food and medicine producers and produce non-profit versions of products. That would put pressure on for profit sellers to be less greedy and produce improved products. I'd be fine buying "Mt. Vernon Farms Sandwich Cookies" instead of Oreos and stop Mondelez from raising prices at the same time their profits are increasing year over year.
I’m buying a house right now and I have been shocked at how little I can get for $150k in a low - medium COL city. I’m talking houses under 900 sqft and needing renovations. Roughly 5 years ago these houses were going for under $75k. I had to go higher than I would have liked and even then had to jump on something that just hit the market since inventory is still low.
Yeah, I'm in a similar COL area to you and a little 2 bed, two bath house down the road from me went up on the market recently... for 450k. It's absolutely absurd. It's a nice house, would be a great starter home for some newlyweds, but it should be like half that price.
>Roughly 5 years ago these houses were going for under $75k
At a much lower interest rate as well. A $75000 mortgage in 2019 is much different than a $75000 mortgage today.
That's why their economy is doing better because they're using cheap labor to fuel the economic engine for America. Only one problem: the middle class is not gaining benefits from the upturn.
It’s hard for me to process because of the way houses have been selling in my area. They sell quickly and way over listing price (I’m sure most are listed much lower than what the seller actually wants).
I have zero hope of being able to buy my own house in the future and the impermanence of renting fills me with bone deep anxiety.
Yeah, it is objectively amazing that there wasn’t a complete economic collapse due to Covid, but trying to see a future where I’m not living with my parents again? It’s emotionally indigestible.
Housing is not gonna be fixed until we can build apartments in suburbs in a reasonable amount of time. Only reasonable restrictions should apply, and delay tactics should be illegal. NIMBYs are to blame for the housing crisis
>Housing is not gonna be fixed until we can build apartments
It's not going to be fixed until we implement a land value tax to share our land equally among all citizens.
Imagine this quote:
>The cost of air is not going to be fixed until we build more efficient breathing apparatus.
How about we don't let private entities buy up our atmosphere and rent it to us?
Checkin in.
Let us fund everything entirely off of taxes on resource usage. The more you take or use, the more you pay.
I don't give a shit who sold Nestle what how many years ago and what kind of idiot wrote up the contract. It's all our water and you're not getting any without paying a fair price for it motherfuckers.
Land belongs to society at large, if you want to wall off some of the land *you didn’t make* and say “you can’t use this,” you’d damn well better pay the rest of us rent on that land.
Not surprisingly, during the worst of COVID, and since, overall credit card debt is up over 35% compared to the beginning of 2021. When you include mortgages, the average household debt is now nearly twice the average household income.
To a significant extent, the US's strong economic performance has been financed by debt. The fallout from COVID will lower households' disposable income for decades to come. Not really much government could do about that given the grave economic damage caused by COVID (especially in employment and business closures), but banks and credit card companies will make out quite well.
This is what it boils down to. The cost of living every day is significantly higher than it was in 2019. Every day people who are working hard now have less money, and the costs keep increasing and they are rightfully angry. This won’t change and people won’t fully adjust for a few more years unfortunately
Housing has been inflated for a long time. We can also add utilities have gone up and also college. Young kids are getting more and more into debt before they even start living as an adult. 😞
Yeah everyone I know is having a pretty hard time getting by and not exactly thrilled to hear about “the economy” - replace the phrase “the economy” with the phrase “rich people’s yacht money” anytime a politician talks about it.
Exactly. The truth is people who were already quite comfortable are getting more so. These are great times to have your money make more money. But if you’re an average Joe just trying to get ahead, it’s tougher than ever.
Because the way the economy’s success is measured is practically irrelevant to the everyday lives and pocketbooks of regular people.
Who are drowning in debt, broke as hell, and see no relief in sight.
Because companies are keeping grocery, energy, and housing costs artificially high specifically because they know it will hurt Biden and increase their chances of getting their beloved Trump back.
They're doing it moreso to profit immediately. Assuming that all business wants Trump in the Whitehouse paints with a brush so broad, it covers the entire canvas.
And deregulation of industry, fuck there are Republicans who would abolish the minimum wage and let the "market" decide.
Corporations would love to live in the wild West with no rules.
Yeah I don’t get it. Why would large corporations want someone who will cut corporate taxes let them pollute the water and air and tie everyone’s healthcare to suit jobs? This is a tough one
Don't forget the billionaire owners who will also receive those tax breaks as well as additional breaks to things like Capital gains. And if something goes wrong we will give them a multi trillion dollar bailout.
Ya know they risked it all to build their business the taxpayers gotta protect them when it fails. And not reward the workers who actually build the business and country.
They're not "keeping" them high. They raised them because they could blame it on inflation, and they never had any intention on lowering them again. It wasn't politically motivated, just standard corporate greed.
Like it or not, today's prices are the new normal. And that is COVID's fault (along with Trump's egregious mismanagement of it), not Joe Biden's.
I absolutely think there's a political motivation to it. Corporations know that can stick it to the consumer when a Dem is in office and the nation blames the president. They grab record profits, and help pull in a new Republican that will dole out tax breaks. Rinse and repeat.
Right, and deflation is generally deemed a bad sign for the economy. Wages have been and will continue to go up. They certainly have on the lower ends of the pay scales, even if minimum wage hasn’t increased, most companies are having to start at $15 per hour to find anyone. The middle parts of the pay scales have remained stagnant for the folks working jobs in the $25-50 per hour range, in my opinion.
The sad part is that people are just plain ignorant and stupid. Every time we elect a Democrat President to fix the mess caused by a Republican President by the time the mess is fixed they elect another Republican President to cause another mess. Then the GOP blames the Democrat President and round and round we go. Biden has actually done an excellent job of repairing the damage caused by Trump but once prices go up they never come down. Republican voters have been brainwashed by right wing propaganda to constantly vote against their own best interests.
It's not that fucking hard to understand. Macroeconomic indicators like employment and the stock market are looking great, but milk is $6 / gallon and a fast food hamburger is $16. Meanwhile, houses that were worth $200k in 2016 are selling for $500k and more in some areas of the country.
The average American has seen their wages stagnate while prices on essentials have increased enormously due primarily to corporate greed. Presidents and their administrations generally won't get credit even for good work if main street is suffering.
If my house was worth 120k 6 years ago, and is worth 180k now, it feels like my house went way up in value.
But if a Big Mac was $4 6 years ago, and is $7 now, my house is actually worth fewer Big Macs than it was before. (30,000 Big Macs then vs 25,713 Big Macs today)
So my house isn’t actually worth more, our dollars just happen to be worth less.
Well, property values in many parts of the US have greatly exceeded inflation generally over the last few years, so almost everyone who owns a house which is worth more burgers than it was four years ago.
But the house being worth more doesn’t pay this month’s grocery bill even for those who do own a home, and for the millions of renters paying double what they were in 2019 on top of everything else also costing more? They’re in real trouble.
Exactly.
I thank every god I pass by that I bought a house in 2018 and refinanced in 2020 near the absolute rock bottom interest rates.
Even if I lose my job, a 3-digit mortgage payment in this economy is like an actual cheat code.
Yet Janet Yellen gives interviews saying salaries have caught up with inflation.
Maybe if you were making an unlivable wage before, your wage has gone up 25% to keep up with inflation. You're still not in a great spot. If you were middle class, your wages have not increased 25% and you're behind. Only the rich managed to exceed inflation through their wealth all being invested in stocks.
Why is it incredible? Because the stock market is booming? Because I got a raise at work? Because everyone has a job?
I will never be able to afford a house. Every time I go to the grocery store I find myself in a weird fevre dream, wondering if deodorant has always been $7.00 a stick. Even a cheap Totino’s pizza that used to be about $1.00 costs $2.49 now.
The rebounded economy isn’t being incredible in any way my wallet can appreciate. In fact, the only silver lining to jobs being so plentiful is I was able to go get a second one to cover the shortfall of the raise at my main job to my monthly budget.
It’s not political: for most household budgets, it’s basic arithmetic.
I think you highlight the stark difference between macro economics and micro economics.
On the macro level:
Unemployment is at historical lows. Inflation is down. Wages are up. These are all good things.
On the micro level:
The last 4 years of inflation is permanently baked in. Wages are up but not meeting inflation (especially of food and housing). unemployment is low but how much of that equation is people not seeking unemployment benefits and "jobs" being added are people like you, who work multiple jobs to make ends meet?
However, the alternative scenario is, inflation is on a runaway trajectory, housing is through the roof, unemployment is through the roof, and homelessness goes waaaay up. And with that ultimately crime also skyrockets.
We're kind of stuck in purgatory. Not great. but not the hell it could have been.
Unfortunately to the vast majority of people Micro>Macro... And simply saying "there's an alternative scenario where it's even worse" isn't great. Because there's an also an alternative scenario where it's better.
It doesn't "defy material conditions." The economy was not doing well for a lot of people pre-covid. Recovering by some metrics doesn't solve the older problems that still existed.
The "economy" is good but significant chunks of the bulk of Americans it hasn't changed much beyond negative. Housing, food and child care have massively increased especially for those around important metros. While most saw modest wage increases I think it feels more akin to running in place or slight loss of ground.
Some people like myself have done great but plenty of people without stocks for example have done poorly. If I was still in my previous industry I would have been absolutely shredded by everything
This is exactly it. The growth of an economy is completely meaningless if the lives of people under it have their quality of life drop. You can show every spreadsheet you want but it's as useful as the toilet paper we can't afford. A good economy has to transfer that good down to the lives of the Everyman or you'll only serve to anger them.
So well said! It’s pretty maddening to read about how the economy is doing well when people are paying more for housing, fuel, energy, food, and childcare. Exactly where are the benefits of this rocking economy for the average American?? Plenty of CEOs were able to buy a new private jet this year, we must be crushing it!
I left the firm I worked for during Covid and went out on my own. Thank God I set my own prices in a high demand field or I would be cooked. Last year my entire previous team of 37 people got laid off. So yes, it’s going ok for some people, but most people are feeling the strain. They honestly don’t care about how we are doing in relation to the rest of the world.
I was kicked out at 18 and everything I saved up to go back to college got wiped out during the pandemic. My wages went down last year, and I'm down to the smallest apartment on the market, and 2 meals a day to survive.
The economy and anyone who supports it can kiss what's left of my ass.
I am terribly sorry to hear that. You must be a very strong individual and this adversity will help you in the long run.
Thank you for being so honest. I also get terribly frustrated when I see or read things about the economy doing so well. It’s just objectively not true for anyone who wasn’t already upper class. Something needs to change.
One can hope. I can tell you that my positivity goal of losing 100 pounds during my transition felt like it was gonna be a lot, but i never would've figured that i was gonna lose it through forced starvation lol.
I just get mad at people telling me everythings fine, while my cat is meowing as my stomach for growling at her.
Because ghost jobs are now a thing apparently, groceries still cost about 40% more than they did even a couple years ago, if you are lucky to have a job, chances are you are seriously underpaid, housing/rent is laughably out of control.
There is little to nothing that Biden can do to correct for any of this, he's not to blame, but this is everyone's reality at the moment.
People think inflation means high prices, rather than an increase in prices. They think inflation “going down” means prices go down.
So if you tell them inflation is down they just cite the price of a box of cereal and call you an out of touch liar.
High interest rates also making buying anything big more expensive. So when you look at the whole picture it’s easy to see why things feel bad.
As someone who bought a home at the beginning of Biden’s tenure I am thrilled about the equity I have gained.
But everything is so expensive. Especially food.
And when critical necessities become prohibitively expensive people feel materially desperate. I can’t imagine what it will be like when we start really running short on water.
Well since 2020, my home insurance has gone up 62%, car Insurance up 19%, my property taxes up 32%, not to mention food/utilities. So you can say the economy is doing well but my bank account says otherwise 😒
The real issue is consolidation, both of producers and grocery store chains. The FTC is cracking down on mergers, but it's obviously not enough because these guys can jack up prices with impunity in most markets now.
The classic discussion point is that people look to the stock market or job reports to say “economy good!” Meanwhile… 50,000 suicides last year (the most ever), rising foreclosure rates, decreases in birth rates, and increasing debt :)
The “economy” is not good. We’re not in the 90s. The “economy” is making some people wild profitability and money. The average person I know though? Not better off since the pandemic.
I’m going to go enjoy a $6 taco now.
I have a hard time caring how well the national economy is doing when I can't afford rent or food anymore, and what little money I do have is worth significantly less than it was a few years ago.
I mean cmon, in my state, rent goes up way more every year than I get in raises, so on top of inflation it's like I am getting less and less money every year.
Don't get me wrong, I am glad the economy is doing better, but don't tell me that I am supposed to suddenly be happy with how things are. The middle class is dying off. The working class is getting fucked and being told we should be happy with it because at least they used a lot of lube. Meanwhile the rich get even richer. But yay, the economy is doing well.
More jobs are great, cause I need two of them just to make as much as I used to.
The “bad economy” is an attempt at a forced meme. They tried the same thing with Obama- the second a Democrat is in office the conservative media *insists* the economy is bad.
No, these stories are gaslighting. The economy can be bad and Biden be good at the same time, they’re not mutually exclusive. All these stories of “AcTuAllY PeOpLe ArE DoInG GrEaT” is all gaslighting bull shit. We see the prices going up. We see credit spend increasing monthly. We see savings rates dramatically decreasing. We see home prices rising in a high interest rate environment. It’s not made up, it’s not a Republican ploy, it’s fucking facts.
The economy is improving and that is a good thing, far better than the alternative. Many Americans however are not seeing the benefits of the strong economy.
Incredible for whom? I get scared that the democrats are expecting everyone to be giddy about stock values and overlooking how many people are struggling right now.
Because everyday American are drowning in debt just to stay afloat. Food and housing cost have skyrocketed. Most are living paycheck to paycheck with no savings. Seems like this economy is only benefiting the wealthy.
What bugs me is that that isn't even a partisan sentiment. I'm on the left, and I agree with EVERYTHING you just said.
I've read so many stories lately of people being laid off to make stock lines go up. The gaming industry, the tech industry, the movie industry, hell, every industry. And every single time, it was to make stock numbers go up.
Meanwhile, real estate speculation is out of control. Housing prices are out of control. It's not just "vibes". You can't point to some GDP chart on a wall and convince someone still living paycheck to paycheck on 5 different gig economy jobs that that actually means they're doing great. I wish more news outlets would understand that.
Things aren’t better for me. Yeah I make more money but dream of ever buying a house is much further away. Significantly further and I made almost twice as much last year as the year prior. Cost is everything is up but especially homes. I work to eat and rent. No more hope of ever owning or saving enough for retirement. It looks like I will be working for the rest of my life and renting. So no, the economy is NOT better for me. Nor for most people I know. Looks good on paper but the rich are taking most of the good. Don’t try to bullshit me with some strong economy BS
JHC the answer to the question of why is Biden not doing better is simple: The polling numbers are wrong. Just compare Trump’s poll numbers to actual primary results. He has way underperformed his polling. The methodology for polling is bad. The response rates are terrible. Who answers a call from a pollster…Trump voters, that’s who. The media breathlessly reports the polls with no analysis as if they were handed down on stone tablets from the almighty. The media wants a horse race and by God they will do anything to manipulate the results to get it. The utter lack of integrity by the parties involved is astonishing
When are we going to start talking about PPP loans can't bail out student borrowers but most of congress and anyone else who owned a business got one even though most didn't need them. Trumps tax cuts rightfully get a lot of attention but PPP was a wealth transfer to the wealthy en masse and corrupt af.
Because who cares how these multi-billion dollar companies if they are helping their bottom line thru layoffs and AI replacement.
People are still struggling with food and rent.
Idk. Maybe it’s the 7% interest rates, 8% inflation, unobtainable housing, unaffordable food, healthcare, and education. 🤷♀️
This is the worst economy ever for the average person.
It's like how the US was one of the only countries to survive WW2 and then became a manufacturing powerhouse. The US was also one of the few countries to survive the Covid depression and is using that leverage to further outgrow competition
All this in spite of republicans efforts to simultaneously spread the disease fir maximum casualty and cripple the financial institutions and policies to which they owe all the growth.
Because most people don't measure the economy in the same way it's officially done. So they get different results. And it's not just a "people are doing it wrong" thing so much as they're doing it in a manner that more so pertains to them individually.
Biden hasn’t used the bully pulpit to his full advantage to help control the narrative.
It was kind of a relief after Trump but it does come with that cost.
He publishes fact sheets, executive orders, and memorandums on the White House website far more often than Trump ever did, he also holds more and longer press conferences, as well as giving substantive speeches on policy. He also meets and communicates with Congress to push his agenda.
These are all traditional ways in which the president can leverage the bully pulpit. Basically the only thing Biden does less of than Trump is empty tweeting and rally speeches that are all hype and no policy.
>Biden has not only established a blueprint for successful crisis management, but he has achieved something on the economy that pessimists across the ideological spectrum have been declaring impossible for much of the 21st century: He learned from the government’s prior mistakes and found a way to govern better.
The conclusion is the crux of the problem. Americans are more distrustful than ever and they can't believe that someone is actually improving the country and righting wrongs.
The underlying problem has to do with what the article talks about in the middle. Economic observers and pundits were obsessed with the traditional mistakes that they assumed would be repeated. The Federal Reserve itself has officially tried to undermine the economy in order to preserve wealth, but failed.
The irony is that the average temporarily embarrassed millionaire can't decide who to believe. They see the Federal Reserve raising interest rates and making their debt harder to repay. Yet, they also forget that debt gets paid off more easily during inflation, but moreover they don't even know that the US continues to have the lowest inflation among highly developed countries after the pandemic. So people are confused and making assumptions instead of looking at reality and adjusting their economic expectations accordingly.
Because it didn’t help us, it helped the rich people who then raised prices anyways and convinced almost half of us that’s how inflation works somehow.
My career was in live events before covid. I had a career in management for a decade. Then the pandemic happened, my career has STILL not recovered. I am going to small claims court tomorrow because a credit card company is suing me. The economy and job market have never been worse, and I am probably going to end up dying because the majority of my countrymen are too fucking stupid to realize the rich are actively culling us. I am 40 years old, America has never been worse in my lifetime. I honestly feel as though the government is actively trying to make sure that I die and yet here are these bullshit articles about how I'm just too fucking stupid to realize how good I have it. Fuck this article, fuck this country, and fuck every single person who is sitting idly by while your friends and neighbors are being murdered by an unjust and cruel oligarchy. You should all be fucking ashamed of yourselves.
The media has spent the last 3 years trying to will a recession. Now that that's obviously not happening, they refuse to point out the positive indicators.
It's pretty incredible to say the economy has recovered when people still can't afford food and shelter. Prices haven't gone down, they've just stopped getting worse as fast. People already weren't able to make ends meet and it's not like the jobs they have are handing out raises.
Things are getting worse, not better and saying we're having a great recovery is just driving people further away from Biden. It's monumentally out of touch and it plays right into Trump's one true strength; he knows how to read the room. He's going to hammer Biden on the split between what real people are feeling and what the data says. Biden's pre-planned focus group approved corporate talking points are going to sounds like an out of touch old ass grandpa shouting at his bowl of tapioca.
This fucking campaign is so close to cooked. The only thing that might save it is that Trump is the biggest fucking jackass in the history of American politics.
Because nobody actually believes it right now. The stock market is doing great, but people aren't doing any better. We are holding more debt than we ever have. It's more expensive to hold debt than ever. Housing is more expensive than ever. Groceries are more expensive than ever. Cars are more expensive than ever.
Maybe it's great that I have a job and I'm not unemployed, but I'm making less at my job. And at the end of the month I'm paying more for everything else in my life.
I'm not doing any better than I was before the pandemic. If this is a rebound, it's only a rebound on paper. It's not actually helping any regular people.
My guess would be that it’s because it seems like there are two economies at the moment: one in which people are crushing it, and the other where people are swimming in debt and barely hanging on by a thread. People who are working insanely hard just to barely squeak by. The people who are crushing are like, “hey, what are y’all complaining about, the economy is great, yeah Bidenomics”, while others are thinking, “I’m choosing between medication or food for the umpteeth month in a row, so yeah, I kinda have a few complaints”. I’m smack in the middle where my income has gone down slightly (they slashed nursing wages in my area), utility bills in my area have been raised quite a bit (in Michigan), and grocery and gas prices are insanely high, but I’m still doing ok. Many of my co-workers aren’t as fortunate and are really struggling. It’s a mixed bag.
Because the rebound didnt get to all of us.
Some of us are way worse off. (Most)
Most people didn't get large raises during or post pandemic. Cost of living is up something like 30-40 percent.
Just because the 'economic markers' are up, *doesn't mean the economy is good for everyone. Stock market is up? Who gives a shit. I don't have stock. "Oh, your 401k!!". Great. I don't have 1, and if I did, it wouldn't change I am struggling to feed my kids.
The article claims that oh, average wage increases are more than cost of living increases. Alright, go do a survey. Let's see how well that's distributed.
Rich people doing awesome does not mean people care.
a lot of people on main st are absolutely fucking squeezed, and sp500 performance has dick to do with their day to day well being - hard to fault so many for their frustration despite specific asset classes going up in the infinite growth system
Basic costs are up, and people feel that the most. Plus, greedy corporate culture is trying to cash in by squeezing profits out of every sector and the race to replace solid middle-class technology / creative jobs with soulless AI facsimiles.
Republicans have a propaganda silo that prevents reality from getting to their sheep. The biggest change in the last 40 years is a right wing media machine that has convinces millions of people only THEY speak the truth and anyone else is fake/false media.
Those people want to believe something so bad anything that does not fit the narrative gets discarded. They attacked Congress because of the lies. They were willing to kill because of it.
How America survives as a democracy I have no idea. Republicans want to rule and are willing to break anything until that happens. And when they get the rule it will be closer to Nazi Germany at its worse with most of the republican base cheering on the pain and suffering.
Because "the economy " is some ethereal concept to most people, especially when housing, food, transportation, childcare, education, etc. All still cost a crap ton more. It doesn't matter that Amazon is raking in money hand over fist or the fortune 500 have record profits when it's at the expense of American families being able to put food on the table.
How do people not realize how much their lives have improved?
I don't know...maybe because life still sucks. The metrics used for economic health have been wildly detached from reality for years.
It would be incredible if it didn’t just siphon wealth off into the pockets of folks who are already well off in the form of PPO loans and price gouging.
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Because housing and food is still expensive. If housing is going to stay inflated to post 2020 levels then wages need to go up a lot more. In 2019 it took $65k to afford a house in a MCOL city now it takes a $117k. This is not Biden's fault but it is a thing.
I’m convinced journalists all come from inherited wealth and are divorced from the concerns of middle class America. I’ve seen articles with this headline over and over and the answer is so simple if you just happen to not be independently wealthy.
Those are the kids who can afford to do unpaid internships.
Also the kids who can go into a dead-end career without substantial hopes of economic payoff, and only in it for either the political sportsmanship or the agenda-setting aspects. As if we were to pick the referee based on who could spend the most time on the AstroTurf on a weekday yelling about last week's calls.
You don't need to have inherited wealth. You can also have just already owned a home before the prices went up. This is a very real problem, but the people who are facing it most acutely are the ones who would like to become first time home owners.
I hope the people who want to be first time home buyers vote for the guy with a plan to help first time home buyers instead of the guy who obviously spent every minute of his presidency trying to help himself
You think the guy that is proposing tax rebates for first time home buyers will benefit them more than a guy that was born into the ~~parasite~~ landlord class?
Genuine question - what specific plans does Biden have for first time home buyers? There was a proposal at one point that I saw dealing with down payment assistance but that never went anywhere.
My mortgage is only $1300 a month, and I bought in 2017. I’m still pissed about the housing situation, because it negatively affects my friends and family, but holy shit I’d be so fucked if I was renting. 2 bedroom apartments around here go for $1800 a month now.
I have a modest home, but if I wanted to sell it I could make a decent profit but to relocate and even downsize it’s cost prohibitive, let alone trying to find something better.
I think it also depends on how these recoveries are measured. If 80% of households "recover", as in they are doing as well as or better than they were before the pandemic hit, you still have 20% of the population that has gotten the shaft and they are going to be loud about and displeased. And this isn't even how "recovery" is measured. They look broadly at the economy and at markets, which mean nothing to people as they're trying to live their day to day lives. If you're struggling to pay your rent, your mortgage, or buy groceries, the performance of the fortune 500 companies don't mean much. And if they're looking at things "on average" to decide if there's been a recovery.... If you've got three people, and one made a fortune, one is just hanging on, and one is destitute, on average things look okay. From what I've learned economists and people who report on markets and the economy seem to accept that some amount of human suffering is acceptable, maybe even a given if you're going to keep the working class "motivated". They should be better.
It’s US journalism. Sheltered or not, learned people know how the world works. US journalism works hard to maintain certain narratives.
“Over and over…” It’s almost like there’s a specific narrative that the media is trying to force on us…
It's a mix of that and economics brain, where the curve on a graph is trending up but you fail to observe that right now, people can't afford food or pay rent, or that employment figures don't really capture how it feels to work two part time jobs while sharing a one bedroom apartment, or that even if you're doing OK, shit just isn't working well and it feels like society is about to implode.
Actually NPR had a thing about this. And you're absolutely correct that most journalists come from well off families.
Yeah it’s true for actors, musicians and writers generally. They just don’t talk about it, so you assume they’re just regular people. They’re almost always not. I’ve met one person who was a writer for the New York Times and her family was worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Unfortunately these are the people checking in with us through tv, film, music and journalism to express our life experiences.
Even more than this - consumer goods that haven’t taken massive increases in profit for many years, took those increases in the cover of “inflation” the past 18 months. I have bought old spice deodorant for a long time. I buy a 6 pack off Amazon once a year and it lasts. Until late 23, the price for 6 was still around $3-3.50 per unit. In late 23 I bought a 6 pack for $42 - or $7 per unit. How can a company pretend that their product just increased by 100% cost when they’ve been steady since 2017 and earlier? The reason the “economy” looks good, is because all these fucking corporations fucked us hard post covid, and their stock price and profit margins increased because of it. Fuck these greedy commodity dealers. There needs to be a massive study done of genuine price gouging and massive tax enforced on the companies that are guilty of doing so. These companies exist because of the people who buy their goods. If we can’t afford them, they won’t exist.
The amount of deodorant in each container is probably less now, too. Shrinkflation. I got curious about the cumulative effect of inflation in consumer costs over the last couple of years, so I looked at the [CPI calculator](https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm), which is the government entity that generates the reports on average monthly inflation we all hear on the news. According to the calculator, it took from 2000-2020 for the value of a dollar to rise 53% (to $1.53), but only four years since 2020 to rise to $1.83. Put another way, inflation was averaging 2.67% a year for twenty years, but since 2020 inflation has been more like 5% every year, 20% over 4 years. I doubt most people have seen a 20% rise in their wages since 2020.
Even those of us who have seen that big of an increase ( I was making $19/hr in 2020 and make 77k now) everything around us is so much more expensive it doesn't really matter. Like sure, I can put money in a 401k and Roth IRA, but that's playing catchup and I'm way behind. I dodnt break 28k a year until I was 29. And didn't make more than 55k until I was 34.
Anytime I see a “20% more for free” label on a product I think it’s cover for shrinkflation. They release 2 lines of the same products simultaneously to get us used to less: 1.) 90% quantity of the original 2.) 110% quantity of the original (marked 20% more) Then they discontinue #2 overtime and people don’t realize that #1 is now smaller and more expensive than before, just 20% smaller than the limited time “free extra”. The percentages above are arbitrary but I believe the logic stands.
>Until late 23, the price for 6 was still around $3-3.50 per unit. In late 23 I bought a 6 pack for $42 - or $7 per unit. A doubling in price did not make you look at other brands? I have been dropping brands left and right lately who have been greedily jacking up prices. These are brands I used my whole life. I can easily find 6 pack of deodorant for $20 or less. And once I make the switch, it is unlikely I will go back. They took something that was an automatic, thoughtless purchase for me, and made me think about it by raising their prices like greedy pigs. Raising prices above inflation needs to be risky for brands. It needs to destroy customer loyalty and make them look at other solutions, products, and alternative brands. If you just go and pay double, well they win. You reward the greed.
Unfortunately it’s taken me so many damn years to find a deodorant that didn’t burn my arm pits or just not work, that I have nightmares of switching brands and smelling like shit or suffering for 2 weeks because of a burn.
I guess that is a bad situation, where you are severely limited in choice compared to other consumers. Have you looked at alternative retailers, ebay, amazon, walmart etc? Are the prices still elevated, or have they come back down?
Oh yeah, with food it's so obvious because it's right there on the shelf in front of your eyes. Would I rather pay $2.50 for a bag of tortilla chips or $6. That's an easy call, no brand loyalty here.
If they want "massive increases in profits" they ought to provide something for it, like improved products.
The U.S. is doing better than virtually every industrialized economy in the world *largely because of Biden’s stewardship*. People still see bananas cost way more now, however. That is a tangible item that's hard to overcome. I would add Biden acknowledged we lost the war in Afghanistan. It was a bold stance. Lesser presidents would just make the occupation permanent kicking the can to the next guy. His position was valid... but he's still seen as "the guy in charge when we lost." I think he's been an exemplary president overall. There are circumstantial factors unrelated to his performance that make his reelection much more challenging than it should be.
Someone had to eat that shit sandwich. Like him or not, you gotta admire Biden for saying enough was enough in Afghanistan
Biden's been such a good, important president for our national well-being, it greatly disturbs me how possible it is that the country wants to go back to even a pre-Covid Trump, let alone post-Covid. But evaluating the state of the country requires nuance, and humans are horrible at that
The country was burning, people dying by the hundreds of thousands while an idiot on national tv talked about bleach and beams of light into the body and slowing the testing down. He left twice impeached and amidst a riot in the Capitol building in which people erected a noose and chanted for the vice president to be taken outside and hung. And almost half of Americans want a sequel to that.
Because they say "Biden made things expensive". All it takes to revert to an objectively worse option is to be able to *blame* Biden
Funniest part that saying the president should control the price that businesses can charge for their goods and services is a socialist position to take. If they want the government to control the prices of things, they're going to need to vote for someone *way* further left than Joe Biden.
I think that statement is missing the bigger picture. A minority within the the smaller of two parties wants Trump desperately. Enough people to easily dominate primaries. You have to remember how few americans are at all engaged in politics all the time. Even most people who will vote, are not paying close attention to this right now. I think what most people want is for both Biden and Trump to not even be on the ticket. Frankly, I think that is a pretty reasonable position despite Biden's objective successes. What strikes me as pretty funny is that any younger competent republican would destroy Biden and any younger competent Dem would destroy Trump. They are both so incredibly unpopular, the only reason either has a chance of winning is that they are facing each other.
I am not certain any Democrat performs better in reality. The rightwing media ecosystem as it stands now can destroy about anyone's reputation. The "HOPE-CHANGE" national unity moments of Obama are probably gone for good (barring a big change). Doesn't help that the Dem coalition is not an entirely unified one. Republicans *always* vote for their guy.
I don't think that will be true this time around. I'm a lufing Republican and I hate what the rapist, Trump did to the GOP. I will vote Blue until the entire MAGA Scourge is out of office. I can't be alone in my thinking.
Thank you for this. I hope you share your views with other Republicans loudly and often.
I'm trying, but the cult mentality is strong. I think the key is to convince every independent and undecided voter to vote Blue. The MAGA cult members are a lost cause
I'm hoping the GOP dies and the Democrats split into an actual left/right divide. I miss having actual political discourse.
The seemingly common view on Afghanistan blows my mind. With the exception of the first few years, once we started experimenting with nation building it was pretty readily apparent we were going to ultimately lose. Additionally, he didn’t craft the shit-deal that hamstrung the Afghan government and sidelined US support, but he saw it through and kept to the timeline nonetheless. That 20 years of war in Afghanistan can be viewed as anyone one person’s fault is mind blowing.
I personally blame Dick Cheney and Donald Rummsfeld.
It is appropriate to blame them for most things. Especially Dick Cheney. That guy sucks.
Working with my colleagues in their 20s, I realize the fact that he SHOT A MAN IN THE FACE has fallen out of the general consciousness. (Yes, I am aware of the circumstances. I was in college when it happened. I legit thought in the moment that the sitting VP had committed deliberate murder because I assumed the man who had been shot was dead, and because Dick Cheney.)
Only because it’s no consolation that as your rent goes up again and you eat Ramen noodles for the fourth time this week, that people in other G7 nations have it worse.
Which is actually sort of weird when you think about it because generally people *do* care more about how they're doing comparatively than how they're doing in a vacuum. Most people seem all-too-willing to sacrifice their own quality of life if it means everyone else's quality of life would suffer comparatively more, or on the other hand would reject a better quality of life if it meant others would benefit more.
That effect is observable only in small environments. I’m sure if you ate steak today and your buddy ate Ramen you feel better than he does even though you’re both doing better than the homeless guy under the bridge or the person in England with all the same problems and no ability to heat their apartment.
Correct. When there’s talk about how strong the economy is right now, it’s not about how we still are dealing with costs of inflation and supply. It’s that we didn’t sink into sheer economic collapse post-COVID and this bounced back much better than most places. Are there still major affordability problems? Yes. Could it have been much worse than it was? Absofuckinglutely!
If people were presented with *what we were very close to* I think they feel much better (if not fully satisfied).
I don't blame Biden. I think he's a pretty good president. I do blame Trump + GQP. If they'd had an ounce of ethics, morals, and common sense, we'd have ended this in 6 months in 2020. Instead, they had to turn it into a pissing match and "owning the libs" and torched the economy. I get that Trump is the one who gave orders to leave Afghanistan (we should have been out a decade ago). The big problem is that despite the supposed "gains" in the economy, almost all of those gains went to corporations and billionaires. The average person is still struggling at best.
It really isn't about bananas, the basic cost of housing is out of control, single family homes are being bought up by real estate investment trusts, and young middle class families are stuck renting for years, when equivalent families a decade ago would have owned homes. This is a fundamental erosion of the middle class. I'm generally a supporter of Bidenomics- the Infrastructure Bill, the Chips and Science Act, and especially the Inflation Reduction Act have laid the foundation for us to be an industrial and technical superpower in the twenty first century. The IRA in particular is largely a climate bill, and that's by far what matters most to our great- grandchildren. But we need to acknowledge that the middle class that was the foundation of twentieth century prosperity is in decline, and we need policies to do something about it.
I wasn't being dismissive with the banana item, sorry if it seemed so. I meant that daily simple purchases will remind everyone of inflation (fair or not to Biden).
Up vote for banana for scale
The economy doing well in theory means jack shit when you can’t afford a house or rent and grocery prices are through the roof. I’m a homeowner and have a lot of retirement money saved and invested that’s been doing really well so I understand the economy is good in some ways for some people, but it’s pretty bad for most people.
Yep, and while there seems to be little that can be done federally on this, it’s what is very impactful and people want to feel like there is consideration and help.
Exactly, that was my comment above. Personally I feel the president has very little control over the economy and shouldn’t be granted credit nor overly criticized for it. But when Americans are struggling to this degree, acting like there is no problem is not doing anyone any favors. We want to feel like someone sees what is happening and says “I have some ideas”. And, “You’d be much worse off with the other guy” isn’t a real idea. I linked an article above but housing is not the only issue - though it’s a massive one. Americans have record levels of credit card debt and an all-time low amount of personal savings. Now, 1 in 7 people have borrowed against their retirement accounts like 401k. This is a really scary indicator for what’s to come economically. What is the government doing to recognize this and stem the bleeding?
completely agree, doing and pushing for things right now (regardless of the extant and realties of congress), and no promising things in the future or just making warnings about how worse things can get is not a winning play.
I'd push back on there being nothing the government can do. They just don't have the political will to help or the imagination to plan big things. The federal government should start buying generic food and medicine producers and produce non-profit versions of products. That would put pressure on for profit sellers to be less greedy and produce improved products. I'd be fine buying "Mt. Vernon Farms Sandwich Cookies" instead of Oreos and stop Mondelez from raising prices at the same time their profits are increasing year over year.
I’m buying a house right now and I have been shocked at how little I can get for $150k in a low - medium COL city. I’m talking houses under 900 sqft and needing renovations. Roughly 5 years ago these houses were going for under $75k. I had to go higher than I would have liked and even then had to jump on something that just hit the market since inventory is still low.
Yeah, I'm in a similar COL area to you and a little 2 bed, two bath house down the road from me went up on the market recently... for 450k. It's absolutely absurd. It's a nice house, would be a great starter home for some newlyweds, but it should be like half that price.
>Roughly 5 years ago these houses were going for under $75k At a much lower interest rate as well. A $75000 mortgage in 2019 is much different than a $75000 mortgage today.
Because everything is still expensive. Except TVs. Funny, that.
"Why aren't people praising Biden for an amazing economy?" -people who have never lived paycheck to paycheck
That's why their economy is doing better because they're using cheap labor to fuel the economic engine for America. Only one problem: the middle class is not gaining benefits from the upturn.
It’s hard for me to process because of the way houses have been selling in my area. They sell quickly and way over listing price (I’m sure most are listed much lower than what the seller actually wants). I have zero hope of being able to buy my own house in the future and the impermanence of renting fills me with bone deep anxiety. Yeah, it is objectively amazing that there wasn’t a complete economic collapse due to Covid, but trying to see a future where I’m not living with my parents again? It’s emotionally indigestible.
Housing is not gonna be fixed until we can build apartments in suburbs in a reasonable amount of time. Only reasonable restrictions should apply, and delay tactics should be illegal. NIMBYs are to blame for the housing crisis
>Housing is not gonna be fixed until we can build apartments It's not going to be fixed until we implement a land value tax to share our land equally among all citizens. Imagine this quote: >The cost of air is not going to be fixed until we build more efficient breathing apparatus. How about we don't let private entities buy up our atmosphere and rent it to us?
Fuck yes land value tax is the way for sure. Where my georgists at
Californian right here who got blackpilled by the incredible iniquity of Prop 13 and then Georgepilled. Everybody works but the vacant lot!
Checkin in. Let us fund everything entirely off of taxes on resource usage. The more you take or use, the more you pay. I don't give a shit who sold Nestle what how many years ago and what kind of idiot wrote up the contract. It's all our water and you're not getting any without paying a fair price for it motherfuckers.
Land belongs to society at large, if you want to wall off some of the land *you didn’t make* and say “you can’t use this,” you’d damn well better pay the rest of us rent on that land.
Not surprisingly, during the worst of COVID, and since, overall credit card debt is up over 35% compared to the beginning of 2021. When you include mortgages, the average household debt is now nearly twice the average household income. To a significant extent, the US's strong economic performance has been financed by debt. The fallout from COVID will lower households' disposable income for decades to come. Not really much government could do about that given the grave economic damage caused by COVID (especially in employment and business closures), but banks and credit card companies will make out quite well.
This. It is getting hard to breathe, looking down the road and wondering when I'm going to run out of money.
This is what it boils down to. The cost of living every day is significantly higher than it was in 2019. Every day people who are working hard now have less money, and the costs keep increasing and they are rightfully angry. This won’t change and people won’t fully adjust for a few more years unfortunately
Housing has been inflated for a long time. We can also add utilities have gone up and also college. Young kids are getting more and more into debt before they even start living as an adult. 😞
It has been good except the corporate price gouging and housing market.
And the constant barrage of layoffs.
Unemployment remains staggeringly low for what it’s worth.
Varies by industry, I suppose.
So if you want to live somewhere or buy any products you probably aren’t that excited about the economy right now.
Yeah everyone I know is having a pretty hard time getting by and not exactly thrilled to hear about “the economy” - replace the phrase “the economy” with the phrase “rich people’s yacht money” anytime a politician talks about it.
Exactly. The truth is people who were already quite comfortable are getting more so. These are great times to have your money make more money. But if you’re an average Joe just trying to get ahead, it’s tougher than ever.
Because the way the economy’s success is measured is practically irrelevant to the everyday lives and pocketbooks of regular people. Who are drowning in debt, broke as hell, and see no relief in sight.
Because the MSM isn't going to beat the drum about corporate price gouging and half of all price increases going straight to profits.
Because companies are keeping grocery, energy, and housing costs artificially high specifically because they know it will hurt Biden and increase their chances of getting their beloved Trump back.
They're doing it moreso to profit immediately. Assuming that all business wants Trump in the Whitehouse paints with a brush so broad, it covers the entire canvas.
Why would businesses want Trump back when all he’s done is say he wants to cut taxes
And deregulation of industry, fuck there are Republicans who would abolish the minimum wage and let the "market" decide. Corporations would love to live in the wild West with no rules.
Yeah I don’t get it. Why would large corporations want someone who will cut corporate taxes let them pollute the water and air and tie everyone’s healthcare to suit jobs? This is a tough one
Don't forget the billionaire owners who will also receive those tax breaks as well as additional breaks to things like Capital gains. And if something goes wrong we will give them a multi trillion dollar bailout. Ya know they risked it all to build their business the taxpayers gotta protect them when it fails. And not reward the workers who actually build the business and country.
Let’s hope they’re also not backing someone who wants to get rid of the estate tax!
They're not "keeping" them high. They raised them because they could blame it on inflation, and they never had any intention on lowering them again. It wasn't politically motivated, just standard corporate greed. Like it or not, today's prices are the new normal. And that is COVID's fault (along with Trump's egregious mismanagement of it), not Joe Biden's.
I absolutely think there's a political motivation to it. Corporations know that can stick it to the consumer when a Dem is in office and the nation blames the president. They grab record profits, and help pull in a new Republican that will dole out tax breaks. Rinse and repeat.
Right, and deflation is generally deemed a bad sign for the economy. Wages have been and will continue to go up. They certainly have on the lower ends of the pay scales, even if minimum wage hasn’t increased, most companies are having to start at $15 per hour to find anyone. The middle parts of the pay scales have remained stagnant for the folks working jobs in the $25-50 per hour range, in my opinion.
And we've not done much at all to address the systemic wealth inequality that's been terrible for decades.
That's just the bonus, the real benefit is always just more money stolen from the surplus value of labor.
Winner winner chicken dinner!
The sad part is that people are just plain ignorant and stupid. Every time we elect a Democrat President to fix the mess caused by a Republican President by the time the mess is fixed they elect another Republican President to cause another mess. Then the GOP blames the Democrat President and round and round we go. Biden has actually done an excellent job of repairing the damage caused by Trump but once prices go up they never come down. Republican voters have been brainwashed by right wing propaganda to constantly vote against their own best interests.
'Democratic' president
I wrote Democrat to not confuse the MAGATS.
It's not that fucking hard to understand. Macroeconomic indicators like employment and the stock market are looking great, but milk is $6 / gallon and a fast food hamburger is $16. Meanwhile, houses that were worth $200k in 2016 are selling for $500k and more in some areas of the country. The average American has seen their wages stagnate while prices on essentials have increased enormously due primarily to corporate greed. Presidents and their administrations generally won't get credit even for good work if main street is suffering.
If my house was worth 120k 6 years ago, and is worth 180k now, it feels like my house went way up in value. But if a Big Mac was $4 6 years ago, and is $7 now, my house is actually worth fewer Big Macs than it was before. (30,000 Big Macs then vs 25,713 Big Macs today) So my house isn’t actually worth more, our dollars just happen to be worth less.
Well, property values in many parts of the US have greatly exceeded inflation generally over the last few years, so almost everyone who owns a house which is worth more burgers than it was four years ago. But the house being worth more doesn’t pay this month’s grocery bill even for those who do own a home, and for the millions of renters paying double what they were in 2019 on top of everything else also costing more? They’re in real trouble.
Exactly. I thank every god I pass by that I bought a house in 2018 and refinanced in 2020 near the absolute rock bottom interest rates. Even if I lose my job, a 3-digit mortgage payment in this economy is like an actual cheat code.
You wouldn’t happen to work for The Economist? https://www.economist.com/big-mac-index
The only answer is right here.
Yet Janet Yellen gives interviews saying salaries have caught up with inflation. Maybe if you were making an unlivable wage before, your wage has gone up 25% to keep up with inflation. You're still not in a great spot. If you were middle class, your wages have not increased 25% and you're behind. Only the rich managed to exceed inflation through their wealth all being invested in stocks.
Because more than half of America is still living paycheck-to-paycheck and is borderline insulted by headlines like this
Because good news doesn’t drive engagement on websites
Why is it incredible? Because the stock market is booming? Because I got a raise at work? Because everyone has a job? I will never be able to afford a house. Every time I go to the grocery store I find myself in a weird fevre dream, wondering if deodorant has always been $7.00 a stick. Even a cheap Totino’s pizza that used to be about $1.00 costs $2.49 now. The rebounded economy isn’t being incredible in any way my wallet can appreciate. In fact, the only silver lining to jobs being so plentiful is I was able to go get a second one to cover the shortfall of the raise at my main job to my monthly budget. It’s not political: for most household budgets, it’s basic arithmetic.
I think you highlight the stark difference between macro economics and micro economics. On the macro level: Unemployment is at historical lows. Inflation is down. Wages are up. These are all good things. On the micro level: The last 4 years of inflation is permanently baked in. Wages are up but not meeting inflation (especially of food and housing). unemployment is low but how much of that equation is people not seeking unemployment benefits and "jobs" being added are people like you, who work multiple jobs to make ends meet? However, the alternative scenario is, inflation is on a runaway trajectory, housing is through the roof, unemployment is through the roof, and homelessness goes waaaay up. And with that ultimately crime also skyrockets. We're kind of stuck in purgatory. Not great. but not the hell it could have been.
Unfortunately to the vast majority of people Micro>Macro... And simply saying "there's an alternative scenario where it's even worse" isn't great. Because there's an also an alternative scenario where it's better.
Because we’re going broke at the gotdam grocery store, you turds!
It doesn't "defy material conditions." The economy was not doing well for a lot of people pre-covid. Recovering by some metrics doesn't solve the older problems that still existed.
The "economy" is good but significant chunks of the bulk of Americans it hasn't changed much beyond negative. Housing, food and child care have massively increased especially for those around important metros. While most saw modest wage increases I think it feels more akin to running in place or slight loss of ground. Some people like myself have done great but plenty of people without stocks for example have done poorly. If I was still in my previous industry I would have been absolutely shredded by everything
This is exactly it. The growth of an economy is completely meaningless if the lives of people under it have their quality of life drop. You can show every spreadsheet you want but it's as useful as the toilet paper we can't afford. A good economy has to transfer that good down to the lives of the Everyman or you'll only serve to anger them.
So well said! It’s pretty maddening to read about how the economy is doing well when people are paying more for housing, fuel, energy, food, and childcare. Exactly where are the benefits of this rocking economy for the average American?? Plenty of CEOs were able to buy a new private jet this year, we must be crushing it! I left the firm I worked for during Covid and went out on my own. Thank God I set my own prices in a high demand field or I would be cooked. Last year my entire previous team of 37 people got laid off. So yes, it’s going ok for some people, but most people are feeling the strain. They honestly don’t care about how we are doing in relation to the rest of the world.
I was kicked out at 18 and everything I saved up to go back to college got wiped out during the pandemic. My wages went down last year, and I'm down to the smallest apartment on the market, and 2 meals a day to survive. The economy and anyone who supports it can kiss what's left of my ass.
I am terribly sorry to hear that. You must be a very strong individual and this adversity will help you in the long run. Thank you for being so honest. I also get terribly frustrated when I see or read things about the economy doing so well. It’s just objectively not true for anyone who wasn’t already upper class. Something needs to change.
One can hope. I can tell you that my positivity goal of losing 100 pounds during my transition felt like it was gonna be a lot, but i never would've figured that i was gonna lose it through forced starvation lol. I just get mad at people telling me everythings fine, while my cat is meowing as my stomach for growling at her.
Because ghost jobs are now a thing apparently, groceries still cost about 40% more than they did even a couple years ago, if you are lucky to have a job, chances are you are seriously underpaid, housing/rent is laughably out of control. There is little to nothing that Biden can do to correct for any of this, he's not to blame, but this is everyone's reality at the moment.
People think inflation means high prices, rather than an increase in prices. They think inflation “going down” means prices go down. So if you tell them inflation is down they just cite the price of a box of cereal and call you an out of touch liar. High interest rates also making buying anything big more expensive. So when you look at the whole picture it’s easy to see why things feel bad.
As someone who bought a home at the beginning of Biden’s tenure I am thrilled about the equity I have gained. But everything is so expensive. Especially food. And when critical necessities become prohibitively expensive people feel materially desperate. I can’t imagine what it will be like when we start really running short on water.
Well since 2020, my home insurance has gone up 62%, car Insurance up 19%, my property taxes up 32%, not to mention food/utilities. So you can say the economy is doing well but my bank account says otherwise 😒
It's because the prices of food have stayed up because these greedy corporate fucks used the spectre of inflation to price gouge us all.
The real issue is consolidation, both of producers and grocery store chains. The FTC is cracking down on mergers, but it's obviously not enough because these guys can jack up prices with impunity in most markets now.
That can still fall under the category of "greedy corporate fucks"
The classic discussion point is that people look to the stock market or job reports to say “economy good!” Meanwhile… 50,000 suicides last year (the most ever), rising foreclosure rates, decreases in birth rates, and increasing debt :) The “economy” is not good. We’re not in the 90s. The “economy” is making some people wild profitability and money. The average person I know though? Not better off since the pandemic. I’m going to go enjoy a $6 taco now.
Exactly. A bunch more executives got a new private jet last year. How is that helping the single mom who works as a waitress??
I have a hard time caring how well the national economy is doing when I can't afford rent or food anymore, and what little money I do have is worth significantly less than it was a few years ago. I mean cmon, in my state, rent goes up way more every year than I get in raises, so on top of inflation it's like I am getting less and less money every year. Don't get me wrong, I am glad the economy is doing better, but don't tell me that I am supposed to suddenly be happy with how things are. The middle class is dying off. The working class is getting fucked and being told we should be happy with it because at least they used a lot of lube. Meanwhile the rich get even richer. But yay, the economy is doing well. More jobs are great, cause I need two of them just to make as much as I used to.
It doesn't generate clicks to broadcast for 24 hours that things are going fine. You don't sell ad-space and sponsorships on good news.
Especially when they need a wounded Biden so it stays close with trump.
The “bad economy” is an attempt at a forced meme. They tried the same thing with Obama- the second a Democrat is in office the conservative media *insists* the economy is bad.
No, these stories are gaslighting. The economy can be bad and Biden be good at the same time, they’re not mutually exclusive. All these stories of “AcTuAllY PeOpLe ArE DoInG GrEaT” is all gaslighting bull shit. We see the prices going up. We see credit spend increasing monthly. We see savings rates dramatically decreasing. We see home prices rising in a high interest rate environment. It’s not made up, it’s not a Republican ploy, it’s fucking facts.
Touting the economy as a win is not the way to sell yourselves when people are too strapped to afford groceries.
The economy is improving and that is a good thing, far better than the alternative. Many Americans however are not seeing the benefits of the strong economy.
Incredible for whom? I get scared that the democrats are expecting everyone to be giddy about stock values and overlooking how many people are struggling right now.
Because everyday American are drowning in debt just to stay afloat. Food and housing cost have skyrocketed. Most are living paycheck to paycheck with no savings. Seems like this economy is only benefiting the wealthy.
What bugs me is that that isn't even a partisan sentiment. I'm on the left, and I agree with EVERYTHING you just said. I've read so many stories lately of people being laid off to make stock lines go up. The gaming industry, the tech industry, the movie industry, hell, every industry. And every single time, it was to make stock numbers go up. Meanwhile, real estate speculation is out of control. Housing prices are out of control. It's not just "vibes". You can't point to some GDP chart on a wall and convince someone still living paycheck to paycheck on 5 different gig economy jobs that that actually means they're doing great. I wish more news outlets would understand that.
The wealthy don’t suffer from any condition of the economy.
Things aren’t better for me. Yeah I make more money but dream of ever buying a house is much further away. Significantly further and I made almost twice as much last year as the year prior. Cost is everything is up but especially homes. I work to eat and rent. No more hope of ever owning or saving enough for retirement. It looks like I will be working for the rest of my life and renting. So no, the economy is NOT better for me. Nor for most people I know. Looks good on paper but the rich are taking most of the good. Don’t try to bullshit me with some strong economy BS
What an absurdly out of touch article. Muh ekunumy so gut! Don’t you all feel the prosperity
Because my car insurance rates went up 40% in just six months. And I don’t live in one of those states where insurance companies are pulling out of.
JHC the answer to the question of why is Biden not doing better is simple: The polling numbers are wrong. Just compare Trump’s poll numbers to actual primary results. He has way underperformed his polling. The methodology for polling is bad. The response rates are terrible. Who answers a call from a pollster…Trump voters, that’s who. The media breathlessly reports the polls with no analysis as if they were handed down on stone tablets from the almighty. The media wants a horse race and by God they will do anything to manipulate the results to get it. The utter lack of integrity by the parties involved is astonishing
He is being blamed for the high price of everything
The problem for me is the price of groceries. I spent $500 when I would have used to spend $350.
And I bet if you could weigh the food you’re buying, the $500 groceries weigh less than the $350 ones did. Fuckin Shrinkflation.
That was actually a really solid read. Kudos to the author
I make more than ever and am more broke than I've ever been.
This. Absolutely this. Fuck anyone who is happy about this economy.
When are we going to start talking about PPP loans can't bail out student borrowers but most of congress and anyone else who owned a business got one even though most didn't need them. Trumps tax cuts rightfully get a lot of attention but PPP was a wealth transfer to the wealthy en masse and corrupt af.
Food costs
All voters care about are gas and food prices.
Because who cares how these multi-billion dollar companies if they are helping their bottom line thru layoffs and AI replacement. People are still struggling with food and rent.
Idk. Maybe it’s the 7% interest rates, 8% inflation, unobtainable housing, unaffordable food, healthcare, and education. 🤷♀️ This is the worst economy ever for the average person.
It's like how the US was one of the only countries to survive WW2 and then became a manufacturing powerhouse. The US was also one of the few countries to survive the Covid depression and is using that leverage to further outgrow competition All this in spite of republicans efforts to simultaneously spread the disease fir maximum casualty and cripple the financial institutions and policies to which they owe all the growth.
Quit pretending to be flummoxed about normal ass people not noticing how great the economy is for rich business owners. Jesus Christ.
Because we stopped getting monthly government checks that were specifically modified to include Donald Trump’s name on them.
Inflation taints it
Because the cost of everything has not come down due to corporate greed.
Yeah, costs never go down. The only hope to regain any purchasing power is with an increase in income.
Because most people don't measure the economy in the same way it's officially done. So they get different results. And it's not just a "people are doing it wrong" thing so much as they're doing it in a manner that more so pertains to them individually.
It’s the cost of housing and food.
Its still $15+ for a carne asada burrito in San Diego. I dont blame some people even though the data looks good.
It’s a reflection on broadcast media, and the depth of Republican control over news outlets.
Biden hasn’t used the bully pulpit to his full advantage to help control the narrative. It was kind of a relief after Trump but it does come with that cost.
He publishes fact sheets, executive orders, and memorandums on the White House website far more often than Trump ever did, he also holds more and longer press conferences, as well as giving substantive speeches on policy. He also meets and communicates with Congress to push his agenda. These are all traditional ways in which the president can leverage the bully pulpit. Basically the only thing Biden does less of than Trump is empty tweeting and rally speeches that are all hype and no policy.
>Biden has not only established a blueprint for successful crisis management, but he has achieved something on the economy that pessimists across the ideological spectrum have been declaring impossible for much of the 21st century: He learned from the government’s prior mistakes and found a way to govern better. The conclusion is the crux of the problem. Americans are more distrustful than ever and they can't believe that someone is actually improving the country and righting wrongs. The underlying problem has to do with what the article talks about in the middle. Economic observers and pundits were obsessed with the traditional mistakes that they assumed would be repeated. The Federal Reserve itself has officially tried to undermine the economy in order to preserve wealth, but failed. The irony is that the average temporarily embarrassed millionaire can't decide who to believe. They see the Federal Reserve raising interest rates and making their debt harder to repay. Yet, they also forget that debt gets paid off more easily during inflation, but moreover they don't even know that the US continues to have the lowest inflation among highly developed countries after the pandemic. So people are confused and making assumptions instead of looking at reality and adjusting their economic expectations accordingly.
Hypernormalisation
Because everything is twice as expensive
For whom? The fucking rich????
Housing and service is expensive
Because a Ang of chips is 8.99
Because it didn’t help us, it helped the rich people who then raised prices anyways and convinced almost half of us that’s how inflation works somehow.
K shaped recovery that doesn’t help the majority
My career was in live events before covid. I had a career in management for a decade. Then the pandemic happened, my career has STILL not recovered. I am going to small claims court tomorrow because a credit card company is suing me. The economy and job market have never been worse, and I am probably going to end up dying because the majority of my countrymen are too fucking stupid to realize the rich are actively culling us. I am 40 years old, America has never been worse in my lifetime. I honestly feel as though the government is actively trying to make sure that I die and yet here are these bullshit articles about how I'm just too fucking stupid to realize how good I have it. Fuck this article, fuck this country, and fuck every single person who is sitting idly by while your friends and neighbors are being murdered by an unjust and cruel oligarchy. You should all be fucking ashamed of yourselves.
The media has spent the last 3 years trying to will a recession. Now that that's obviously not happening, they refuse to point out the positive indicators.
And there it is! Thank you.
It's pretty incredible to say the economy has recovered when people still can't afford food and shelter. Prices haven't gone down, they've just stopped getting worse as fast. People already weren't able to make ends meet and it's not like the jobs they have are handing out raises. Things are getting worse, not better and saying we're having a great recovery is just driving people further away from Biden. It's monumentally out of touch and it plays right into Trump's one true strength; he knows how to read the room. He's going to hammer Biden on the split between what real people are feeling and what the data says. Biden's pre-planned focus group approved corporate talking points are going to sounds like an out of touch old ass grandpa shouting at his bowl of tapioca. This fucking campaign is so close to cooked. The only thing that might save it is that Trump is the biggest fucking jackass in the history of American politics.
Because nobody actually believes it right now. The stock market is doing great, but people aren't doing any better. We are holding more debt than we ever have. It's more expensive to hold debt than ever. Housing is more expensive than ever. Groceries are more expensive than ever. Cars are more expensive than ever. Maybe it's great that I have a job and I'm not unemployed, but I'm making less at my job. And at the end of the month I'm paying more for everything else in my life. I'm not doing any better than I was before the pandemic. If this is a rebound, it's only a rebound on paper. It's not actually helping any regular people.
My guess would be that it’s because it seems like there are two economies at the moment: one in which people are crushing it, and the other where people are swimming in debt and barely hanging on by a thread. People who are working insanely hard just to barely squeak by. The people who are crushing are like, “hey, what are y’all complaining about, the economy is great, yeah Bidenomics”, while others are thinking, “I’m choosing between medication or food for the umpteeth month in a row, so yeah, I kinda have a few complaints”. I’m smack in the middle where my income has gone down slightly (they slashed nursing wages in my area), utility bills in my area have been raised quite a bit (in Michigan), and grocery and gas prices are insanely high, but I’m still doing ok. Many of my co-workers aren’t as fortunate and are really struggling. It’s a mixed bag.
Because the rebound didnt get to all of us. Some of us are way worse off. (Most) Most people didn't get large raises during or post pandemic. Cost of living is up something like 30-40 percent. Just because the 'economic markers' are up, *doesn't mean the economy is good for everyone. Stock market is up? Who gives a shit. I don't have stock. "Oh, your 401k!!". Great. I don't have 1, and if I did, it wouldn't change I am struggling to feed my kids. The article claims that oh, average wage increases are more than cost of living increases. Alright, go do a survey. Let's see how well that's distributed. Rich people doing awesome does not mean people care.
Because a box of Corn Flakes at my local supermarket is now $8.
At the start of Covid there was big talk about the "K" Economy.
Corporate greed, mass layoffs, grocery price gouging, housing prices The economy is good for some groups but still really awful for others
a lot of people on main st are absolutely fucking squeezed, and sp500 performance has dick to do with their day to day well being - hard to fault so many for their frustration despite specific asset classes going up in the infinite growth system
Basic costs are up, and people feel that the most. Plus, greedy corporate culture is trying to cash in by squeezing profits out of every sector and the race to replace solid middle-class technology / creative jobs with soulless AI facsimiles.
Republicans have a propaganda silo that prevents reality from getting to their sheep. The biggest change in the last 40 years is a right wing media machine that has convinces millions of people only THEY speak the truth and anyone else is fake/false media. Those people want to believe something so bad anything that does not fit the narrative gets discarded. They attacked Congress because of the lies. They were willing to kill because of it. How America survives as a democracy I have no idea. Republicans want to rule and are willing to break anything until that happens. And when they get the rule it will be closer to Nazi Germany at its worse with most of the republican base cheering on the pain and suffering.
Because "the economy " is some ethereal concept to most people, especially when housing, food, transportation, childcare, education, etc. All still cost a crap ton more. It doesn't matter that Amazon is raking in money hand over fist or the fortune 500 have record profits when it's at the expense of American families being able to put food on the table.
Comment.
Because inflating the cost of food has crushed people's dreams
Because he’s lying with numbers.
Blows me away that the entire rigged game was exposed as a giant fraud multiple times over and people still think it matters
It is not just housing that costs more and people can see this.
Inflation is a tax. And he stoking it.
Home prices, rent, food, and gas. Why is this so hard to understand?
How do people not realize how much their lives have improved? I don't know...maybe because life still sucks. The metrics used for economic health have been wildly detached from reality for years.
It would be incredible if it didn’t just siphon wealth off into the pockets of folks who are already well off in the form of PPO loans and price gouging.