this post was submitted on 15 Sep 2023
662 points (93.7% liked)

politics

19104 readers
3127 users here now

Welcome to the discussion of US Politics!

Rules:

  1. Post only links to articles, Title must fairly describe link contents. If your title differs from the site’s, it should only be to add context or be more descriptive. Do not post entire articles in the body or in the comments.

Links must be to the original source, not an aggregator like Google Amp, MSN, or Yahoo.

Example:

  1. Articles must be relevant to politics. Links must be to quality and original content. Articles should be worth reading. Clickbait, stub articles, and rehosted or stolen content are not allowed. Check your source for Reliability and Bias here.
  2. Be civil, No violations of TOS. It’s OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). It’s NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect! This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.
  3. No memes, trolling, or low-effort comments. Reposts, misinformation, off-topic, trolling, or offensive. Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.
  4. Vote based on comment quality, not agreement. This community aims to foster discussion; please reward people for putting effort into articulating their viewpoint, even if you disagree with it.
  5. No hate speech, slurs, celebrating death, advocating violence, or abusive language. This will result in a ban. Usernames containing racist, or inappropriate slurs will be banned without warning

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.

That's all the rules!

Civic Links

Register To Vote

Citizenship Resource Center

Congressional Awards Program

Federal Government Agencies

Library of Congress Legislative Resources

The White House

U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. Senate

Partnered Communities:

News

World News

Business News

Political Discussion

Ask Politics

Military News

Global Politics

Moderate Politics

Progressive Politics

UK Politics

Canadian Politics

Australian Politics

New Zealand Politics

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (14 children)

The economy overall might be fine, but the average person can still not be.

People don't care much about data and facts on unemployment and GDP when ultimately their personal situation is what matters. Things are more expensive and wages for a lot of people haven't kept up. Already have too many people think that no/less inflation means prices go down, when actually that just means prices stay the same or go up slower. Deflation is off the table cause that can be even worse.

Sadly, there isn't much that can be done beyond sticking to higher interest rates and letting the market adapt and catch up.

Not much the president can do either, especially with this congress. Even if it wasn't, the changes and effects would likely take years to even reach fruition. Let alone have a significant impact for most people if all goes according to plan.

We have seen this scenario play out before.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (10 children)

I'm not sure that this is the case but I'm not an expert. A recent opinion pieces by Krugman showed survey data that indicated that most people reported doing ok, while also saying the economy was not. Some of this might be related to individuals doing ok but being worried about the prevalence of folks struggling.

Article: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/07/opinion/economy-inflation-negativity.html

One key point is that at the end of 2022, 73% of respondents said that they were doing at least ok financially. So almost three quarters of households aren't significantly struggling, and yet a majority of people also say the economy isn't doing well, even when they are.

Now, many people are struggling, but many people are always struggling. The question is why is the proportion of people with a negative sentiment towards the economy out of whack with the number of people reporting doing ok financially.

I dunno; Krugman makes some guesses and the article is a quick read. If you hit a paywall let me know and I'll make a gift link.

Edit: I’m OK, but Things Are Terrible

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Paywall.

But that is very weird if people think they are fine, but somehow others aren't and the economy isn't. At least enough to say that.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Gift article: I’m OK, but Things Are Terrible

Yeah, the survey responses seem out of whack compared to historical data. It's odd, and worth thinking about.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

What explains negativity about a good economy? Partisanship is surely a factor: Republicans’ assessment of the current economy roughly matches what it was in June 1980, when unemployment was twice as high and inflation four times as high as they are now. Beyond that, the events of the past few years — not just inflation and higher interest rates but also the disruption Covid caused to everyone’s lives, and perhaps the sense that America is coming apart politically — may have engendered a sourness, an unwillingness to acknowledge good news even when it happens.

Interesting option from the article.

So, it might be more "everything is falling apart or not the same" type of thinking. Could explain it and wouldn't surprise me.

Everything does seem different after COVID at least. Things don't feel the same even years after.

load more comments (8 replies)
load more comments (11 replies)