The Economy

The United States has just experienced one of the biggest collapses in consumer inflation in modern history. In June 2022 consumer prices had risen 9.1 percent over the previous year. By December 2023 the rate of increase had slowed to 3.4 percent. And yet, in survey after survey, voters still declare inflation to be at or near the top of their list of concerns.

Why aren’t voters recognizing the decline in the inflation rate? Because voters are humans, and humans don’t think about inflation rationally.

A basket of goods that you buy is only rising in cost by 3.4 percent a year now (supposedly, because the CPI measures actual prices the way Donald Trump's doctor measures his weight). Never mind that all of that stuff already costs 9.1 percent more than it did a year and half ago.

Why aren't you "irrational" people happy? You all just don't get it.

 

"Falling" inflation. ... Good luck trying to convince people not to believe their lying eyes. They were printing 7, 8, 9 percent CPI numbers, which is a crippling tax on people (and a result of all of the debt monetization the people trying to spin nonsense were responsible for in the first pace). It comes off of 9 percent cost increases, and yeah. ... inflation has fallen.

That is not deflationary, and it doesn't undo all of the rise in the cost of living that is now entrenched. People have gotten slaughtered by rising costs. When you are telling people that prices (as you vastly underreport what people really see in the things they actually spend on) are rising 3.4 percent a year, and it's GREAT news because they are not rising in as runaway fashion as they were a year ago. ... it's insane. What people see is that prices have exploded higher and they are STILL rising way too quickly.

The other half of that? U.S. economy is NOT strong. It's a debt binge very cynically creating a massive future problem to pretend today that that is HEALTHY economic growth.



This is a slice of the actual health of the U.S. economy.

 

Oh. ... and with the higher rates on debt they have gingerly tried to allow because of the inflation they caused:



People are whistling past the graveyard right now.

 

They have laid off more than 1900 people since the beginning of the year.

I think the point they were trying to make is that the layoffs being announced over the last month are not just confined to tech now (with a narrative that they overhired -- with no thought as to why -- during the pandemic).

The layoffs are hitting a broad array of industries right now.

 

I think you mean "Bidenomics."