Inflation has created a dark cloud over how everyday Americans view the economy
Inflation has created a dark cloud over how everyday Americans view the economy
Anger about higher prices appears to outweigh the benefits of a hot labor market in the minds of consumers.
This article seems to gloss over the fact that wages really haven’t risen with inflation. There may be more job openings than unemployed people, but do those jobs pay a livable wage?
102If consumers are being forced into relative poverty because expenses are rising faster than incomes are, that is the definition of a bad economy. Whoever wrote this headline is bought and paid for.
69Exactly. Just having job in no way guarantees someone also has a home and food to eat ... which is some serious Black Mirror shit.
41If you work 40 hours you shouldn't need a 2nd job to survive. With the wealth America has you shouldn't have to work more than 30
22
This is part of the issue. My local grocery store pays $15/hour and mostly hires part time to avoid benefits.
1 bedroom apartments start at $1,200/mo. Most places require rent to be no more than about 33% of income. Don’t even get me started on gas/car, insurance, utilities, etc.
There is a huge disconnect.
The economy is NOT in good shape. It is according to metrics they choose to measure, but jobs that pay a living wage are very hard to come by.
13To be fair, it hasn't been good by THAT standard in decades probably. It just feels worse right now because there was a rise in wages for a bit there that was totally lost to inflation.
3
I think wages have kept up with inflation, if I'm reading this chart correctly: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LES1252881600Q
It's normalized by CPI, so a flat line would be no wage growth.
Depends on the the sector, obviously. I'm guessing service sector wages have not kept up with inflation, since it seems like every place is understaffed (they're not offering enough to attract workers). I also don't think it accounts for part-time and gig worker wages.
4
The title itself is an act of gaslighting.
I'm gonna take a position for this comment that is a harder line than I usually would take on economic issues: if the consumer is not able to consume at the same rate because prices are going up faster than wages are, then the flow of money is not "good" as conventionally idealized in "the economy."
Thanks for the heads up Buffalox. Edited to finish the thought. Cell tower fuckery made it look like I had lost the comment.
82I think it should be clear that what he means is like the famous quote: "Has Anyone Really Been Far Even as Decided to Use Even Go Want to do Look More Like?"
19
InflationCapitalism has created a dark cloud over how everyday Americans view the economy73A shitty economy that has forced people into paying more for less while corporations lie about the reason for inflation and rightfully soured everyday Americans view of the economy.
The value of the stock market and homes increasing does fuck all for people getting screwed at the grocery store.
I’m fortunate enough to get to benefit from both of those things, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to pretend the economy is great now because theoretical net worth has gone up.
70Inflation, shrinkflation, record corporate profits, rising home prices, the billionaire class getting orders of magnitude richer, and my paycheck going up a mere three percent a year... thats sort of why I feel like the economy sucks a bag of dicks.
I'm still doing well. I have a house. I have a car. I have a job.... but in comparison I'm not moving forward. So that is why I feel like the economy sucks.
60"the economy" is not your economy or mine. If we made all our money from investments, we'd be doing ok. The growth in our wealth would be outpacing inflation.
Our wealth is tied to wages. As long as we impact someone else's bottom line, we won't be getting ahead, ore even keeping pace, with inflation.
13You’re missing a piece here: corporate greed
That is why someone that could theoretically live on illiquid investments would be in a better position, especially since the market has been doing quite well all things considered. However in actual reality we need to buy shit from these corporate oligarchs and they are fleecing us because they can, not because of actual economic pressure.
You’re so close with your final sentence, but you miss the forest for the trees when you say getting ahead or keeping pace with inflation. Inflation is a charged word that encompasses more than just the problem here. Right now the majority of the problem which has actual impact to actual people begins and ends with out of control corporate greed and unrestrained capitalism.
2
It’s not about the economy when corporate raises prices because they can instead of because of actual economic pressure.
3My wife and I both got huge raises in the past 2 years, my investments have done well as I switched a bunch to some more aggressive funds when I became confident a soft landing was likely, the value of my house has sky rocketed nearly 50% over the past few years, and we've saved enough to be able to do a significant upgrade to our modest house.
Should I think the economy is great or should I recognize that my personal experience is not "the economy"?
0I think the point is, most people don't view the economy through the same economic lens as an economist, or the Fed. People view the economy through their lens of how far their money goes.
Sure, McDonalds, Zuck, Musk, Starbucks, Boeing are all doing well... but I just paid 8 bucks for two cups of small drip coffee at my local shop, and 40 bucks to feed my family of four at McDonalds.
1
The economy has created a dark cloud over how Americans view the economy.
FTFY. Quit with the gaslighting.
47The economy is doing great, it's the distribution of it that's the problem. But for some Reason Americans can't seem to create a majority to do something about that. They'd rather keep the 1% happy for some reason.
28Healthy distribution of wealth is an inextricable quality of a good economy. In other words, an economy can not be doing good if wealth isn't distributed properly. Your comment only works if "the economy" = GDP, which the sentiment of hundreds of millions of Americans should tell you, isn't the case.
13"Economic models don't account for distribution. The Economy is fine. Eat your dirt."
I'm loving that more people are figuring this out.
it might feel hopeless now but for everyone that learns this we get closer to a tipping point.
6
"That discontent comes even as a strong labor market, appreciating home values and a stock market rebound has made some positive about their financial situation."
A strong labor market doesn't help you unless you're looking for a job.
Appreciating home values = increased rent for renters. Meanwhile, existing home owners can't sell because of high interest rates on loans.
Stock market rebound doesn't help people not in the stock market.
34Everyone I know who's sold their house has done it within a week or two of putting it on the market and they got more than they were asking for. Other than that I agree with you.
-5That's all fine and dandy if you downsize or go to a different area with a lower COL, but if you buy in the same market, you also pay more for the new house.
7And that extra money covers the original down payment, interest that was paid on the mortgage, closing costs, realtor fees, costs to repair, stage, and prep the house for sale, and down payment on the next mortgage. It's a never-ending cycle of spending for more debt. AKA the American Dream.
5
Property value has zero direct and real world connection to the cost of rent, rent is mostly about value and what the market can stand. Plenty of buildings, houses, etc have been owned long enough by whatever company/person/group that the operating expenses are way lower than you may expect. Where I am landlords are raising rent just because, unless they took out insane loans with hard money lenders, their operating costs have most definitely not increased at the same rate they are increasing rent.
As for selling. Again. You have no idea what you are talking about. Sellers don't have to deal with interest rates unless they are looking to use a mortgage to pay for a new place to live. If you are downsizing and/or moving to a lower cost of living area, you should be able to own outright without a loan. We are planning similar. We will not be surprised if sometime in the next few years we are offered 500k+ for our property and if/when that happens we will move further out of civilization and be setup for an easy and comfortable retirement.
A strong labor market helps everyone even those of us who already have a job. You need to educate yourself on how economies work. A rising tide lifts all boats.
You need to delete this comment and go seek help, take a hit from a joint/vape/etc or just take a nap.q
-18"rent is mostly about value and what the market can stand"
Exactly what I said. Value goes up, rent goes up. Unless you live in a market where rent increases are capped somehow.
1
is 'the economy' just cover for 'people who own stocks'? are they really ignoring the plight of the common man because some rich peoples stocks are a-ok?
no that can of water did not double in cost to market, but youre going to pay for it like it did.
feels like inflation has pointed out to the common man what a farce 'the economy' is.
33It’s because the USA’s corporate owners like to obfuscate shit like that. The economy is doing well if all you’re looking at is GDP, stock market, and how profitable companies are.
However, a quick look at the Consumer Price Index shows how fucked the economy is for the citizens - but you never hear about the US’s really bad CPI score and how inefficient most markets are in the US.
17
If "the economy" doesn't translate to the purchasing power of our labor, then it's a useless metric.
33... useful to them. LOL
Reminds me of the quote "If you're not making money in your sleep, you will work until you die."
This, I believe, is by design.
15You spelled lie wrong
2
Corporate disaster profiteering
31Overuse of the money printers.
-16I think the analysis I've seen showed supply-chain disruptions was the cause for most of the inflation (first covid, then Russia-Ukraine war). Then, a significant portion was from increased corporate profits (if you're being generous, you could say companies increased their margins due to future uncertainty). There's also a new trend of deniable price collusion (algorithmic collusion, such as what Amazon has been doing). M2 money supply has been decreasing for the last 1-1/2 years.
16No that would be Donald’s thing. He printed the most money ever in the history of the goddamn country during his term of terror.
It’s a huge testament to Biden’s admin for the relatively soft landing we have had, one of the best in the G7. The thing is, we have another big problem: out of control corporate greed and late stage capitalism.
That problem is far bigger than anything Biden can do with a chaotic refuse-to-do-anything Congress who is paralyzed by minority extremists and Trump worshippers.
2Money printers do not walk into your local supermarket and slap a big sticker with a big number for the price of bread.
The bread company, which sells your brand of bread made that decision. And they alone have that authority to dictate the price of their product.
1
More like shrinkflation/greedflation.
24It isn’t about the economy so much as it’s about
the goddamn out of control corporate greed by our oligarchs and their monopolies
22as a philistine sometimes it is what is. People need to tighten up and be greatful for what they have! Eat less and take that extra shift from steve next week
Next year i put in a whest crop and just make my own cereal /ss
2
Yet they just set a new record for holiday spending?
Can it be any more obvious that the media is dooming for a Trump win?
21"Inflation"
12Great, everyone is on the same page now.
9Well, yeah.
If you agreed to work hard and sacrifice on the expectation that it would mean you could live with security and dignity and the promise wasn't fulfilled, that's the classic breach of the social contract.
Granted, the Dems (since the 1980s) have been enthusiastic partners in looking the other way when mergers&acquisitions led to monopoly or monopsony, and both parties have happily suppressed wages, and that's the damage done.
Now that the Dems are actually doing yeoman's work re: bolstering unions and raising wage minimums and checking monopoly abuse and price gouging and reining in the banks, OF COURSE the media are going to gamely report that high prices hurt but not mention that they're working on the problems in meaningful ways
5Anytime you read about the economy booming, it refers EXCLUSIVELY to the Stock Market, no other metric. The stock market is a direct indicator of economic theft. It records how much economic activity/value is stolen from workers and transferred directly to stockholders.
So yeah, by that metric the US is killing it. By any practical measure, though.... Not so much.
2Americans who bitch at Joe for high prices were just looking for a reason to be a little bitch
1That's what I call a bitch take.
0that's the way little bitches see it.. for some little bitches it's the border.. they cry about the border and ask to have their diapers changed, it's pretty funny.. but the little bitches who cry about high prices and ask Joe to make it go away, those are really funny too.. ignorant, childish little bitches..
1
Hmmmm, I wonder what causes inflation 🤔.
0The fact that you think this is a simple question with a simple answer only reveals your own ignorance.
1