Biden goes into 2024 with the economy getting stronger, but voters feel horrible about it
President Joe Biden goes into next year's election with a vexing challenge: Just as the U.S. economy is getting stronger, people are still feeling horrible about it.
Pollsters and economists say there has never been as wide a gap between the underlying health of the economy and public perception. The divergence could be a decisive factor in whether the Democrat secures a second term next year. Republicans are seizing on the dissatisfaction to skewer Biden, while the White House is finding less success as it tries to highlight economic progress.
“Things are getting better and people think things are going to get worse — and that’s the most dangerous piece of this," said Democratic pollster Celinda Lake, who has worked with Biden. Lake said voters no longer want to just see inflation rates fall — rather, they want an outright decline in prices, something that last happened on a large scale during the Great Depression.
“Honestly, I’m kind of mystified by it,” she said.
That's why they say "unemployment being too low is bad for the economy". Low unemployment means higher negotiating power for workers, which means higher wages and better working conditions. The only way that statement makes any sense is if they're exclusively talking about yacht money.
But the rules of supply and demand should only apply to the consumer, not the producer.
Don't even start on the wage-inflation-spiral idea. It's the workers' fault for wanting higher wages as it allows service-oriented business to charge higher prices, driving inflation.
While the theory probably has roots in real-world pricing algorithms (eg how much can we charge people in X region for Netflix) that rise in cost contributes to inflation figures. The fact that wages have been stagnant for decades undermines the whole argument.
"Well the poors can afford it and the shareholders will love it!" FFS
Similarly, when they say NAIRU, you can and should mentally substitute "inexhaustible scab labour pool".
Too bad all those "right to work" people have been actively fighting against negotiation powers for workers. But lets blame the 'yacht owners' and piss and moan about how they take advantage of the lopsided negotiation powers we voted in for them.
I know! We should put exclusively yacht owners in power! They'll totally fix it. /s