No, I’m operating on the numbers that show that many people actually think that unemployment is higher now, and the stock market is at record lows. They have opinions on these economic measures, but they are wrong. I"m asking - where did they get these wrong ideas?
They obviously have an opinion - they answered the poll. With incorrect ideas.
If the economy is actually bad, this does affect the incumbent. This has been shown in the past.
But the economy is NOT bad at the moment. There WAS inflation, which has been (mostly) tamed. The economy did a good job getting this under control. Unemployment is very low.
The question at hand is NOT “Will Biden do OK given the economy is so bad and prices are higher at the grocery store”
The question is "Why don’t many people recognize that by any standard, the economy is doing OK (Not “fantastic” but “OK”)
Your only answer seems to be that people are stupid and can only comprehend the price of groceries.
…which, IF it were true, would prevent any President from being re-elected because food prices are always going up. This pretty much shows that it is NOT true.
Except April to May, where they declined 0.2%. Up only 1.1% from May of last year.
Cite: Rent up, groceries down: Inflation cooled slightly in April, but consumers still face a mixed bag
Within those categories, food at home — essentially, groceries — climbed just 1.1%, while gasoline prices climbed 1.2%.
On a monthly basis, food-at-home prices declined 0.2%, and overall food-price growth was flat.
That’s a point worth making. Yes, groceries cost more than pre-pandemic. But no, groceries don’t really cost more than they did a year ago – even a year-and-a-half in a lot of cases. Inflation is not an all-of-a-sudden fresh concern.
But but but… I just read on my facebok account about a guy somewheres that bought a hamberger and it costed him $45.00! And another guy said he got a turkey that was over $100! So thanks Biden!
Don’t forget the out-of-context photos of gas prices.
Do you understand there is a difference between prices going up 3 percent a year and suddenly doubling? Compare fast food prices to what they were four years ago. Compare groceries. Price increases are the most directly impactful change to the economy most people see. The fact that inflation has slowed down, doesn’t prevent consumers to get sticker shock every time they enter a store.
IF this is true, Biden could have stopped it by…?
On inflation I don’t think he could have done a ton. But that is a different question than why isn’t Biden getting traction on the economy. People really don’t like inflation and they will blame the person in charge earned or not. They don’t need social media or fox news to tell them to do that.
That said there are issues that are causing a lot of people to struggle, particularly those who are young, such as housing, where Biden can make an impact. Pushing for laws to limit corporations buying houses or having a new infrastructure bill for new housing development I think would help with people who think they are being left behind by the economy.
Not if Republicans block any/all efforts that have the slightest chance of making Biden look good.
Is this new enough?
Biden-Harris Administration Announces $5.5 Billion in Grants for Affordable Housing, Community Development, and Homeless Assistance to Drive Economic Growth
Funding empowers 1,200 communities: addressing urgent local needs, boosting economic growth, enhancing community resilience, creating jobs, and advancing housing solutions.WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today {May 7, 2024} announced $5.5 billion in funding that will go to 1,200 communities through more than 2,400 grants to States, urban counties, insular areas, DC, Puerto Rico, and localities across the country. These annual formula grants provide critical funding for a wide range of activities to address their most pressing local needs, providing flexible resources to build homes, support renters and homeowners, provide life-saving assistance to people experiencing homelessness, create jobs, and improve public facilities, community resilience, and local economies. The White House announced these funds this morning, and HUD Acting Secretary Adrianne Todman will highlight the announcement at a press conference in Reno, Nevada today.
Biden-Harris Administration Announces $5.5 Billion in Grants for Affordable Housing, Community Development, and Homeless Assistance to Drive Economic Growth | HUD.gov / U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
I hope so. Seems like a good start. I’m not the person he has to convince though.
Who will you blame if Republicans find a way to block it?
I would blame the republicans. But I’m not who Biden has to convince to vote him.
So, after complaining that Biden isn’t spending money on housing development then being shown that he is . . . the response is, essentially, it isn’t enough.
It’s in another thread and I don’t feel like linking it but I found where Trump wanted a six billion dollar change in HUD’s budget, a SIX BILLION DOLLAR CUT.
Yep, and that is all they can really do, throw statistics around regardless if those stats even affect the average person in their everyday life.
I am disabled and out of the workforce, so unemployment rate doesn’t affect me. I don’t invest money, so the strength of the stock market doesn’t affect me. But I do go shopping every week and see prices on various goods rise more and more over time, and that affects me.
Still? Right now?
Inflation on consumer goods has packed a big wallop on our household. Yet even I recognize that prices have stabilized for quite some time.
But unfortunately as a pointed out earlier in the thread that isn’t the way that most consumers think of inflation. Because most consumers of financially illiterate, they equate inflation with prices. If the price of a burger went up from $5.00 in 2022 to $5.50 in 2023, and then was $5.60 in 2024, they will think that inflation was higher in 2024 than in 2023 because the price was higher, despite the fact that it went down from 10% to a little over 1%. They won’t think inflation is decreasing unless burgers go back down to $5.25.
OK, but the things that might not affect you personally do affect most Americans; e.g. 15 million more people have a job now, and increased employment has a knock-on effect of improved conditions and job options for those already working.
But if we’re sharing individual stories, I’ll share mine.
I live in the UK, but work for an American company. My company has done tremendously well during this administration: our profits and share price are both up significantly, we’re aggressively hiring and expanding, everyone’s getting juicy bonuses. If there’s a problem, it’s that we can’t fill roles in the US because it’s a tight job market.
A couple months ago I was hosting one of my american colleagues, and we talked a bit about some of the US economic numbers. He was very pessimistic about the economy. e.g. on the jobs numbers, he simply dismissed the official job numbers as “propaganda”.
Yes this is anecdotal, but as I say, we’re sharing individual stories it seems.