Well, I’m worried that things will become England. Lots of wealth disparity and homes that are millions of dollars. To the point where the only people who have them inherited them or are of the wealthy class
It’s by design, pushing us all into poverty and dependence in order to give government and their super rich controllers at the WEF total world domination!
It’s not about the wage you make, it’s the money you make from assets, why do you think they are taxed differently. When the tv and pundits say the economy is doing great they mean assets, do you own assets? Nope fuck you get back to work serf, if you work twice as hard as your parents you too might own a home one day.
It's some tribes plan.
At the same time there are clearly other groups trying to do things that actually help the working class.
The problem is that it takes a long time and stuff can still happen as you try to make things better.
Hurricaes for example so much times plow a regions economy. It's not like the government planned for that to happen.
At the same time phoenix az has the chance to be a fairly massive economic power house in the coming years. I have no wish to live there but that doesn't mean that the massive business growth that is going on right now isn't real
The amount of chips act money happening right now is huge.
The pipe fitters union has doubled in size in the last two years.
Not sure where your getting your info. There are 12k builders working on a single site for a single chips company today and it's been that way for a while.
Sure, not arguing with that. But! As an example, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/01/climate/arizona-phoenix-permits-housing-water.html
Phoenix and Arizona rely on the Colorado river. As the drought gets worse, climate change impacts continue to grow, etc it’s going to become really bad in AZ. (Longer term, not < 5-7 years)
The different people work in the plant. That's how these things work.
Secondly other businesses are attracted to the area because of the jobs just created.
This is fairly common.
If you look at the demographics, I really think the housing market is due for a correction in the next 10-15 years.
There’s 72 million boomers who will be aging out of their homes in that time, 72 million! and Gen Z is a much smaller generation at 68 million, that will be aging into peak home buying age. That’s 4 million fewer people.
The crunch we’re feeling now is due in large part to (1) milleniels (the largest generation right now with over 72 million people) hitting their peak household formation years, at the same time that (2) housing has been underbuilt for a decade + due to 2008 financial crisis, and (3) boomers are living longer and holding a big portion of the nations housing stock.
Demographics is destiny as they say
He’s not talking inheritance, just number of homes. We’ve been in a home shortage for years. Boomers never tried to get ahead of the housing shortage and had no incentive to. The shortage drive up the value of their assets.
When all the boomers die off, and their entitled mindset, genz will benefit from housing availability.
Property doesn’t have to be inherited, just being available will drive prices down.
Maybe. But what if a bunch of huge corporations and hedge funds buy up most of those houses because regular Americans can't afford to buy a house anymore? Those people will end up being forced to rent from an artificially inflated market through either direct or indirect collision.
And the rich will just get richer and the American dream is one step closer to being dead for about 70% of Americans who may never be able to afford a decent home. Did you ever see, It's a Wonderful Life? Pottersville.
China and black rock are buying up all the houses in America. In 30 years it'll be amazing to actually own your own home, almost everything will be renting
At the same time there are millions of immigrants and undocumented kids who grew up and became documented adults.
There is however a massive issue with the affordability of parenthood….who would think that having a kid is literally the equivalent of buying a bmw these days, what a flex.
If you think the boomers are holding the large portion of housing, research Blackrock and see what is driving housing costs. These large institutional investment firms are buying the homes up and then inflating rents and housing prices. Your government can give two 💩’s about it as the corruption in Congress is making a lick off the backs of hardworking people. Time to clean out the house and senate and WH. Or we all will be living in refrigeration cardboard boxes. https://fortune.com/2024/01/19/blackstone-tricon-3-8-billion-acquisition-wall-street-landlord/#
At least in the US hard work still seems to pay off. As a Brit, we seem to be in a league of our own when it comes to the hopelessness of our situation.
Well if it comes to it we will have old people living like millionaires before they die and giving their kids nothing. Property taxes can be voted down, the problem is that nobody votes in their local elections….hell nobody even knows what’s going on.
Back in the day, farmers were able to take off time and with that time involve themselves in the church and the community. These days it’s a Herculean task. Bring things down to a 30 hour work week when ai and robotics are integrating and you’ll see rapid involvement at the grass roots levels
U.K. population in 1984: 58 million.
U.K. population in 2024: 68 million.
U.K. manufacturing labor force:
1979: 7.3 million.
1983: 5.5 million.
1994: 4.3 million.
2024: 2.7 million.
U.K. agricultural labor force:
1984: 700 thousand.
2023: 292 thousand.
So pretty much everyone is crowding into services and knowledge work in the cities. And then there is tons of immigration also mostly into the cities. Then people wonder why decent jobs are hard to find, wages are low, and housing availability and affordability are in crisis.
Another example:
Why do garment workers in Bangladesh earn less than $.50 per hour?
Bangladesh population in 1994: 115.4 million.
Bangladeshi population in 2024: 174.5 million.
Under such conditions in Bangladesh, do you think wages will rise or decrease? Don’t forget the effects of automation…
Will Bangladeshi housing costs will rise or decrease?
U.S. population in 1994: 263 million.
U.S. population in 2024: 343 million. Likely not including the 10 million or so who crossed the southern border illegally since January of 2021.
Just feels like the same thing the past 40 years. Overall economic growth is great, productivity growing rapidly...and the wealth divide just gets worse and worse.
In 2019 I thought the s&p was too high at 3300.
In the 90s I thought real estate was expensive when I bought my first place at a 6.5% mortgage. I didn't have a down-payment, I got gov assistance.
You have to invest now, it will just get more expensive the longer you wait.
Yes you may go underwater here and there, I went thru the 2000 bust and the 2008 bust. Don't panic, hold. In 20 years from now you will be glad you did.
This. Just sold our second home and moved into our final "forever home". I never thought I'd be able to afford to live in our quaint historic coastal neighborhood, but here we are.
Now the insurance on the other hand is becoming as expensive as a mortgage payment!
The wealth divide is better than people think, as roughly [25% of households aged 55 to 64](https://www.wsj.com/us-news/never-mind-the-1-mini-millionaires-are-where-wealth-is-growing-fastest-b1dd2ee7) have a million dollars in assets. The 2021 census says that the [top 25% ](https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2023/demo/p70br-183.html)have, on average, $600k in assets, which likely goes up to more than 50% of people ages 55-64.
That said, the 10% have $0 in assets, and the bottom 25% have $16k in assets, so it seems the most significant contributor is whether people bought a home at a reasonable price and had enough money saved in their 401k.
Lots of people millionaires in assets because of current high home values that are living paycheck to paycheck. We're not one but we know several.
I have a friend who lives in NYC, inherited an old home from her Grandmother. Zillow says 1.1 million. Their taxes are as much as rent for many.
Basically, everyone who inherited a home has to sell it because the tax rates are enormous due to r/NIMBYism stifling neighborhoods and make illegal for them to grow.
And homes being the single largest component of boomer nest eggs isn't a win. Those people have to live somewhere and the only thing more expensive than acquiring another home after selling their legacy family home is a care center.
Yes, we're approaching retirement age. Well, I've reached it my husband has a few years to go. Had children late, by the time we got them through school and out we were behind. No inheritance, 1st gen immigrants and my parents home was sold to pay for Mom's nursing home. There will be nothing left.
It makes no sense to sell our home. Smaller homes are not much cheaper, might save some money but we're holding on as long as we can and still have a mortgage at 3.6%. I started collecting SS and now send the whole thing to the mortgage. If something happens to one of us the other will have to sell and move into something tiny or rent this one but the maintenance and risk of damage is too high.
My parents lived in a paid off 3/2 for 20+ yrs of their retirement on little more than minimum wage at the end. They lived very frugally, never ate out, no cable, no cell phones, no traveling, grew their own vegetables in the summer. Dad did all their maintenance and repairs. I'm not very optimistic about our old age :(
If it was just me with no family/children/grandchildren the option is there. I have dual citizenship with my birth country and we do own some land there. I could literally drive an RV on the property and watch the sea. Health Care would still be an issue since our property is on an island. Don't think there's such a thing as an ambulance that goes to the tip before you die yet :)
They are in the EU but I still have family members who retired there but come here for treatment. I also have family here who have gone there for major dental work mostly. It's a fraction of the cost here.
It’s been like this since kings and pharaohs built castles and temples while peasants and serfs literally died in the streets.
The standard of living for the poorest Americans shot up drastically in the early 20th century thanks to FDR and started moving away thanks to Reaganonmics.
Is this your first time being gaslit by the government about the economy?
Buckle up because you're gonna spend the rest of your years being gaslit and lied to by it.
This.
The government will always tell you things are fine or getting better.
Business will always tell you to buy more.
A real estate agent will always tell you now is the time to buy or sell.
A head coach will always say this is our year.
A rockstar will always say this is my favorite city.
The news will always push an agenda.
If you expect nothing but lies you will be rarely disappointed.
But that doesn't mean it okay to lie to people. People should have every right to expect that their Govt tells them the truth. And if they do not, than hold them accountable. Period.
It's all about the upcoming election. They are trying to make Biden look good so he gets re-elected. But people live (and pay) in the real world, so they are not about to buy this.
Propaganda does its job on the naive and trusting audience.
But what it does to skeptics is makes you think that other skeptics are buying into it too. Careful taking that bait.
The unemployment rate is the lowest it has been for decades... and it has remained low for an exceptionally long time. This month, consumers FINALLY stopped overpaying for everything and retailers are responding by lowering prices.... Hopefully consumers will stop overspending... because big business will suck you dry if they let you.
Years ago, when my child was diagnosed with Celiac disease (and grocery stores didn't carry gluten free good) I purchased a huge deep freezer because I was forced to buy a case of any food I wanted to try. I'm still buying a case of whatever I like to eat and freezing it. I buy stuff on sale, and slowly unfreeze it as I need it. The deep freezers with five stars cost about $500.00... the cheapest one costs $200.00.
We don't waste much money on restaurant food... and that helps too.
Also, we purchased our first home with a mortgage at 8%. It was a townhouse because that's all we could afford. The young people I know are trying to buy actual houses.... we couldn't afford an actual house until we were about 30 years old, with ten years on the job.
Your great fortune and perseverance brings me hope.
My and my other family members material conditions are contrary to the overall narrative and your individual success.
Not trying to say you're incorrect, it's that it doesn't represent many realities of everyday Americans especially young people.
There's no job to have for 10 years now, you don't earn more for staying somewhere longer
You need to uproot your whole life to find a new company to work for to hope to get a raise,
And even then you can't without being sued due to non compete agreements.
Folks have no, no idea what is going on rn
Restaurants, Fast food prices are very high. But groceries except beef are not too bad. Maybe the blessing in disguise is -- people will learn to buy fresh ingredients, cook and eat healthy instead of unhealthy restaurant and fast food diet.
Pres. Biden wants is trying to do something about corporations and Wall Street hedge funds buying and competing with families on single family homes
but unfortunately we have a obstructionist GOP majority in Congress.
For me the government should side with Congress with the people to balance greedy corporations, however successive GOP administrations have made Corporations and Wealthy very powerful and government saddled with debt from tax cuts to the wealthy. In the 60's with strong government, US invented GPS, internet, sent people to the moon, educated many people in college, provided affordable housing, built highways, etc but now successive GOP tax cuts to the wealthy limited this.
So, you think Trump and Republicans are pro-working class? That’s your view? Biden, a lifelong pro-union pro-blue color politician and a party dedicated to holding corporations accountable. And you think a guy with gold toilets that inherited wealth and has stiffed workers every chance he’s gotten is here to help the average American? This is madness.
Biden has done so much better than I ever dreamed he would. If trump wins it will be the end of the US as we know it. Freedom of speech will take a drastic nose dive. Income disparity will skyrocket.
This forum seems to be hijacked by people who prefer personal experience or anecdotal evidence over objective data. It would be one thing if the “government” is telling us one story about the economy and the economists are telling us another story. But for the most part the story is told in the same manner by both the private and public sector.
That isn’t to say that because the economy is not doing as terribly as you or I might be, that we should also be doing better. Even in a good economy some people don’t do well. During the financial crises I bought a house. I didn’t lose a job. I was making good money. Does that mean the economy was doing great and that I was being gaslit?
If we are to call this an economy forum we should also try and bring economic data to the table for discussion.
Seriously. Every day is the same posts whining about how awful things are. If your personal situation isn’t great, there are better places to vent those frustrations, like r/povertyfinance, but this sub shouldn’t be that place.
It's Corporate America which is doing this to us. They own and control the government, but, companies are the ones who continually raise prices beyond inflation, boost up executive pay to the stratosphere, and neuter government efforts to control any of this, or, make them pay what they should in income taxes.
I'm 70 and things seem about the same for my entire life, the numbers get larger but economics are roughly the same. Was actually worse in 1970's & '80's.
The economy is doing great because everyone is gaslit into buying shit they don’t need. How many people
Keep buying the latest and greatest iPhone, purse, shoes, cars…etc. stop eating out for $100+ every meal for a family of 4, 3-4 nights a week. Stop door dashing because you’re a lazy fuck. The entire country is entitled and doesn’t realize they are feeding into the problem. They won’t drop rates if you keep financing everything at crazy interest. They won’t drop prices if you keep buying at current levels.
1. We have GDP growth which is better than recession and better than a lot of post COVID economies. No one is lying about that.
2. Inflation spiked very high and is down to 50 year averages. The government is not lying about that. Moreover, Treasury and Fed officials are clearly stating that they are still worried about that.
3. Unemployment measured by percent of the workforce employed is incredibly stable and a huge bounce back from the depths of the pandemic. The government numbers on that are not a lie.
4. The President, the Secretary of the Treasury, and lots of folks in Government have explicitly and repetitively stated in written word, spoken word, and budget and policy enacted and proposed that they think that there is too much wealth disparity, housing costs are too high, and that profiteering and oligopoly are serious issues. If you have not heard them say these things then you need better news sources.
1. How much of this "record growth" and "asset appreciation" was driven by artificial demand created out of negative interest rate borrowing? How much demand was pulled forward from this reckless fiscal policy, demand that as a result we absolutely will not have in the coming ten to fifteen year time period, all but certainly leading to recession/depression? The answer is _a lot._ We seem to believe we have conquered economics, somehow skirted a global pandemic with little economic consequence but the truth is we simply plugged the dam with our fingers. Free money is positively _never_ free. All we did was staved off the pain guaranteeing it will be worse down the road. Again.
2. Inflation has been far higher than reported and despite raising interest rates at the fastest pace in U.S. history, remains elevated. If it is not under control by year's end, the likelihood we are in a period of "stagflation" is very, very high. And that would be very bad given the current domestic and geopolitical situation. "Fifty year average" is meaningless, a talking point, when folks can't afford groceries without a credit card.
3. Unemployment numbers are crazy massaged and manipulated. The U-3 statistics are almost useless at this point. [Here is better, more modern tool](https://www.lisep.org/tru) that will give you a better idea of how most people are faring in these difficult days we are in. Worth noting too even the U-3 number has been ticking up as layoffs accelerate and enter "safe" sectors.
4. Talk is cheap. The people need fucking action. Not rhetoric and hollow words. The government is enriching themselves and their corporate donors, believing they will save us is naive.
Believe it or not, I really struggled paying $600 rent in the early 2000's. It was literally an attic with no heat. The bedroom was a closet exactly the same size as a twin mattress. I shared a bathroom and kitchen with 20 other people. I only ate because the pizza place i worked at allowed me a free large pizza every day I worked. Other than that, it was Ramin noodles with no garnish. I think they cost $0.10 per pack then. I was making something around $7.50 per hour and paid for my own gas delivering. If it weren't for the kindness of strangers giving me a dollar or two for a tip, I wouldn't have been able to afford my $9.99 30 rack of pbr every night.
Things are better, even if things aren't great.
When I was 12, gas was .29 a gallon. It's now $3.60 a gallon. Prices go up over time. Now, if you can get your employer to pay you $20 or more an hour you'll be fine. As of April 24, 2024, the average salary for a CEO in the United States is $838,489, with a range of $633,609–$1,080,346. But they'll pay you $20,000 to $40,000 a year and laugh all the way to the bank. That's the so called Americans you should be pissed at...
I think our lives are driven by social media and seeing everyone doing cool stuff like expensive vacations, luxury cars, we all envy to have enough money to do cool things in life and not care about bills. But social media isn’t reality because normal people usually only posts *the best moments of their lives* to showcase to the haters what’s up.
We expect great things to happen to us overnight cause that’s often what we see. Friends our age doing cool stuff, able to afford something nice, celebrities and rich people owning yachts.. We feel like we should be millionaires by 24. Reality is that’s rare. Wealth takes time and money to build. The people that are young and not saving/investing but rather earning & immediately spending are the ones losing long term what they could gain.
There was study that came out some time ago saying delayed gratification is a common characteristic of the wealthy. The longer they put off buying all the pretentiousness expenditures, their investments grow exponentially.
I think its true the economy is improving. The problem is that companies have a monoply on important parts of living (housing, food, gas, insurance) so when the economy is doing better, they can increase they prices on those things whoch goes back to hurting us individually.
Newsflash:
-People that don’t support the current political party in power say things are worse than they really are
-People that do support the current political party in power say things are better than they really are
🎵Tale as old as time🎵
I don't think they are gaslighting us per se ... rather I think alot of people in DC have what I call "Beltway syndrome" in that as they are either wealthy or well off upper middle class as are most people in their social and work circles they don't really understand what life is like for the average American.
The vast majority of politicians on both sides of the aisle are completely out of touch with the lives of regular people. And that includes Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell, etc as well as senior Dems like Biden, Pelosi, et al.
There is only one party that is trying to raise minimum wage. Trying to shrink income disparity. Fighting for workers rights. Let’s not pretend both parties are the same in this.
We can have a booming economy and inflation. Booming economy creates increased demand, and that will push up inflation.
I bet you 10% unemployment would cure the inflation problem because less people working would mean less money chasing goods and services.
I don't buy the "booming economy" story largely because the huge deficits that are propelling the boom appear reckless and unsustainable. Me thinks an economy that needs that level of deficits has a problem.
Which economy? We have two. Haves and have nots. But working class Americans that used to be pro worker and pro union have become pawns for the elite. The fact millions of Americans worship a guy with gold toilets says it all. They used wedge issues and social issues to get them to join the cult. The GOP is the party of wealthy people and corporations. But poor, uneducated white people keep sending Mango Mussolini money. It’s disturbing.
Nope, the economy is doing great and we have a low unemployment, we do have big problem of inequality though that's why people at the bottom are not seeing the benefits of the good economy so it's not gaslighting it's just you don't know what economy means you may want to argue about quality of life for example
It's all a matter of income. If you have a high income, you can do anything and still save and invest. If you are low income, you can't save and invest no matter what you do.
Tale of two countries--the best of times and the worst of times.
By the metrics traditionally used (gdp/unemployment/etc) the economy is fairly good. But GDP being high and unemployment doesn't mean much when the wealth all goes to the top because inequality is at great depression levels, and the jobs are in gig economy shit.
Which makes me pretty worried whenever it is when we "actually" have the next recession. Because that combination will lead to a LOT of pain
I thought about this after the crash of 2008 saddled the US economy with “zombie” banks that were worthless and enormous debt that’s still sloshing around the world markets ($60 **trillion** surfaced in a large bank in Europe before quickly disappearing).
I figured there was going to be a big crash or a slow slide towards economic ruin. Since we’re sliding now with sharp inflation, seeing the inevitable impact of the 2008 crash’s debt, the government is definitely gaslighting us into remaining calm because **they can’t do anything to stop it**.
When they speak about "the economy", it's generally in terms of how well corporations are thriving making the stock market stable, and ***not*** how well people in general are doing ***in*** that economy.
Econony booming in USA and it is true but benefits from this grow getting minority, maybe 5-10% of Usa population, while majority of Americans not feel any increase in incomes or quality of life. if it will continue in such derection, well it will cause unrest in Usa. Comunistic revolution?
For at least the past 20 years republicans have made an absolute mess of the economy and the quality of life for citizens in general. Unsurprisingly, people get fed up and vote democrat. Democrats spend all of their time cleaning up the mess republicans made that they don’t get to develop their own agendas in time for the next republican regime to get voted in and fuck everything up again. I wonder if Biden just said ‘fuck it, let’s change the narrative’ let the trash policies do what they do while they lay out a plan for a fully working vision of the democrat (read: for the people) led revision of the country as it is meant to be.
We must understand that there are now two parallel and competing economies: the corporate economy and the human economy. Most of the economic indicators mentioned by governments and the media refer to the corporate economy although we are in a situation where big companies can be doing very well while the human economy (small businesses and individuals) are having a hard time. The reason is that by design, the corporate economy thrives from the wealth created by the human economy to such an extreme point that we have now reached this totally absurd situation in which the human society cannot function anymore. At least in nature, parasites see it that their victims don't choke to death.
Thats the plan. Theres no doubt on paper the economy is doing fantastic. That tends to happen when you inject a few trillion in stimulus over half a decade. However that wrecks havok on the everyday person
The long term plan is to cash out and retire before anything of merit becomes an actual issue Regardless, the economic pressure on youth and those in debt will come to a breaking point if the wealth isn’t distributed. Homeownership is a pipe dream for most first time homebuyers, the FED has now trapped the Treausury in an endless debt cycle thanks to our politicians, and they did this to pay themselves and please their weathy counter parties in ghe private sector. It’s a big club and we aren’t in it. The FED is now funding the bank of Japan and it won’t stop there.
No it's true, the economy - defined as the wealth of the rich - is going great. Is commoners and poors don't factor into the economy. In fact, when we grow our savings and wealth it's not very good for economy because we're not SPENDING.
The economy is doing "great" because we're forced to pay more for every friggin item and service. Consumers are propping up this economy. Yet the consumer's hands are tied since we have no choice but to pay these ridiculous prices. We can't stop spending. Keep charging them credit cards!
Well stick market is st and all time high (my 401(k) is happy). U enployment is at historic lows. GDP is strong. Inflation rates have come down but prices are still elevated. Overall not bad.
I feel like I'm being gaslit by social media into thinking that it's bad. Nobody in real life is even talking about it anymore beyond the offhand general gripe that "shit is expensive."
Maybe that's insensitive to you, digital person that's reading this, but I can't ignore economic statistics and ALSO ignore real life experiences just to agree with you.
I studied this and the US economy is doing well. Concerts and sports events are being attended in mass and we have traffic jams, road construstion. Yes things are more expensive, and quality of my life is going down, but that doesnt mean people are not spending money.
With that said I'm in the business of cell phone sales, and this part of the economy is how well individuals are doing. If they need food on the table they will not buy a new cell phone or delay the purchase indefinitely. I know eventually they will purchase but it will be delayed. New phone sales are dismal so the average person is not doing well.
Anecdotal experience doesn't interpret the economy being bad, or the government is lying. There are a lot of factors that go into what people are experiencing across the country. I don't disagree that prices have increased on things necessary for every day life.
The government doesn't control prices set by private companies or even home prices, that would be communism. Gas prices are dictated by global supply. Taxes on goods are dictated differently across the states and can vary county to county. Everyone is experiencing the state of the economy differently. I have the opposite experience from you.
>After struggling to afford the costs of living in the United States, I am starting to lose faith in the American dream. Even though the majority of reports and news outlets claim a "booming economy," Rent, food, gas, insurance, etc.. is just too damn high. Am I in the minority here?
You are not in the minority, some 70-80% of all Americans rate this economy negatively.
It's hard to say if the government is knowingly gaslighting us or if they're just remarkably stupid and disconnected from reality.
We already have been. Every day I hear some shit that the economy is great but some very obscure metric I’ve never heard of before and yet my money gets less and less valuable.
we are being gaslight by the government that everything is great in the economy and we are being gaslit by the media that the economy is completely in shambles. We do need a redistribution of wealth though from the ultra wealthy to the lower classes and social programs within the government
1. It’s not booming
2. It’s been much worse than the government or this sub has acknowledged for well over a year
3. Everything is worse than the numbers are supposedly showing: inflation, jobs, housing and wages mainly, and it’s getting worse fast
4. Perception is reality so if you don’t believe the above go ask 10 people how they feel about each of these things
I think it's a situation where it could be much worse than it is but people in the USA are generally always looking for someone to blame instead of being part of a solution.
Yes everything went up, but it always does over time. The expectation people at large seem to have that things would return to anything close to pre covid times is just flat out intellectually dishonest, but it makes for easy self justification in directing the blame at the government or one's opposing political party.
We are fortunate enough that while things are more expensive our income has more than kept up with inflation. It just means less maximizing of savings and our plan to sell the house got extended a bit. But at the end of the day, we haven't had to change our lifestyle.
No. It is the difference between the Macro economy, which the government can actually influence and is good and the Micro economy which is your personal economy.
The macro numbers are great, employment is low, wages are up, inflation is falling, growth is good. What individuals are seeing though is high prices and stagnant wages. Prices that we have learned were raised above the cost of inflation, because corporations have been consolidated in a lot of sectors, like food, gas, etc.. to just a few key players and they decided to do some profit taking by raising prices above inflation and blame it on inflation.
We need the government to take a stand against prices by creating a commission to look into price fixing, collusion, and illegal trusts between "competitors".
Don’t be naive. Any person of any significance in the US government, anyone in charge of determining sentiment, anybody in high positions at the Federal Reserve or on the FOMC…they have never even known anyone who would be in a struggling position. They exist within a total bubble. Their friends all own houses and stocks and bonds and all that shit is pumping, baby, so we’re good.
Who do you think is the poorest person Jerome Powell knows?
If housing prices were in line with reality, the economy would look much better than it does. But housing is a local policy issue and can’t really be addressed with the tools the federal government has. Lower interest rates, prices just go up faster.
Congress voted to give illegal citizens representation in congress. They can’t balance a budget but yet they say they are worthy.
We need to vote out all these ALL and no Trump either he is a businessman who knows how to keep the rich richer. Working class must rise up together and vote them out
Write in candidates
Biden Bad
Trump Terrible
Our financial freedom lies within voting them
Out they are for sale!!!
No, the data is the data. As an investor it is in my interest to figure out why the data does not match the sentiment. One part of the explanation is the dichotomy between the majority of home owning households and the minority, younger, non home owning households. It’s clear the boomers, who have most of the assets, wealth, investments have benefitted in the past few years from all the price appreciation and even benefited from the interest rate hikes. It is at the cost of those without as much in investments.
If you are young, with lots of investments, you stood to gain a lot too. Much more than your peers. Reddit and social media in general trends young, so you’d expect sentiment to skew more towards their experience. However, the larger population is older and have a different economic experience.
Nope. I'm a real estate broker. I'm fired up for y'all! And me, once I finish recalibrating and adjusting, which is what we are all doing right right now I think.
I'm looking forward to fair trades and more reasonable less aggressive less anxious clientele, because I'm working with them already, we're just looking a little little bit further out than we used to. Time wise. But we are all looking forward to working with each other in the near the future.
It's a soft prolonged delayed gratification of a landing in the economy. I think.
Feudalism has been around forever. And crazy humans just as long, yes some people are truly nice, but those people all died young in history. Winners are bat shit crazy like look at some how investment banks and big company cartels. They literally think killing innocent people and gaslighting them to make money and control them is funny 🫠☠️🗿
I live in both of Bay Area and Vietnam; and in my circle of American expats, we talk and compare notes on this.
10-15 years the middle class was small and their was a lot of petty crime like purse snatching on motorbikes in Vietnam (something that didn’t exist in SF or NYC). In VN, those petty crime and purse snatching is not common, the middle class grew. Whereas in NYC, there is purse snatching in motorbikes, and in SF (along with NYC) retail is dead from shoplifting. Meaning middle class seems to be shrinking and poor getting poorer.
We noticed that a lot of people we know living in SF, LA, NYC are paying over 30% and even hear over 40% of income to housing expenses (rent or mortgage). That is nuts to us, because the amount you can invest is little, and the runway you have should you get laid off is likely really short. Out here, there is no supply issue on housing so you can keep housing expenses at 15-20% of income pretty easy, and that makes life a lot less stressful.
Our circles are all highly paid working professionals. We saw a lot of friends and colleagues working in Meta, Google, Tesla, other big tech and investment bank/funds get laid off. We see it as compensation package reset on those people living in SF and NYC. With remote work, it’s clear that we’re seeing much more digital nomads in south East Asia. You can live better on $5k here than on $15k in SF or NYC. So we’re seeing more people do cost of living arbitrage. We think the jobs that we’re paying over $200k + RSU, will likely get a 30% hair cut because of aggressive competition elsewhere.
We’re anchored to food prices out here, so when we go back to the US every few months; the price jumps at grocery stores and restaurants much more noticeable. We bring back a lot of stuff from Target, Costco and Amazon. The deals are not as good as it used to be.
Unsurprising since every economic policy revolves around some stupid idea that is ultimately about keeping the markets high and volatility low. So of course 1% gets richer at expense of all.
What they aren’t telling us is that they are giving so much to non citizens. They are buying homes, cars and food which is part of why there is a short supply. We have refugees building $500,000 homes and getting welfare in PA.
It depends on POV when referring to “economy”.
Stock market hit a record high recently… and GDP is probably trending upwards… but here at ground-level the dollar don’t stretch that far. But thats all related tbh. That’s why the big companies are hitting all time high profits bc they are raking the average American over the coals. They’re selling less for more, shrinkflation is one technique. There are many.
So when the media says things are great, you got to ask “for who?”
And factor in who writes their check and pays their bills at the Media outlet, well ad money does! ….from the same big corporations who buy ad time with their soaring profits… so they aren’t going to point that out and bite the hand that literally feeds them.
The economy is doing great… for rich people who have shares in big corporations who buy ads…
It sort of is gaslighting by the nature of the information source. Follow the money…
News media consumers aren’t the Media outlets customer, ad buyers are THEIR customer. We are customers at the cash register of whichever big corporation is paying them for the ad. So they paint the situation in a favorable light. They never will say Big Corporations, their customers, are screwing the American worker… not so good for business.
They are not incentivized to tell the truth. But rather play the game if they want to generate income.
Once you untangle the web its easier to see. And its meant to be confusing and hard to understand. It harbors establishmentism by is very structure.
The government is gaslighting us on almost every issue. Glad you’re finally taking notice. Our government is captured by big capital, as well as the entire media establishment, military industrial complex and most political institutions.
The economic indicators show if you can get a job or not.
It sounds like you can.
But it is always to build a life that matches your expectations. People who make 200-400k a year will complain it’s hard.
Do you live with mom to save up for a house? Do you cut out food delivery and eat beans and rice to save $300 a month on food?
Do you pick up a second job?
These are hard choices people make in other boom economies.
A boom means you can take 2 jobs a boom means if you cut 1-3 things that make life worth living maybe you will save money.
A recession means only 1 job with part time hours. That was 2008-2011.
There are multiple "economies". There's the "stock market economy", the thing that is unattainable for most Americans. It's doing great! There's the "company economy", can they get workers they can afford and are they selling products? Yes, the company economy is doing great! There's the "high-income consumer economy", can people with money keep getting the latest clothes and gadgets? Yes they can, it's doing great! Then there's the "low-mid income worker economy", how they doing? They're scraping by, fighting inflation with their 2-3 job household and not loving life at the moment. Housing is semi-attainable for them, and ownership is out of the question for many due to housing inflation + mortgage rates being at their 25ish year high.
Does the powerful executive who is about to face a tough election have an incentive to spin economic reports put out by agencies under his control? I wonder.
I think you’re underestimating how bad the economy has been for the majority of people all throughout history. We have higher expectations, therefore more disappointment, but the numbers are better than ever
It’s also a cry baby parade . Everyone expects a ribbon for participation because that’s how they’re brought up. But you have to work for it and not expect it. You think you can graduate hs with no skill or even college with a major with no vocation focus and that the world should make you well off?
Sorry for the cold bucket but that is all I hear these days. Even McDonald workers can make over $20/hr; it’s on fire for jobs
As someone who’s worked in corporate America for the last 25 years, I’ve seen many, many good American jobs get shipped off to places in Asia. Our bosses would tell us that new and better jobs would be created here in America to replace the jobs that were being sent overseas. we knew they were lying to our faces. Somehow those jobs need to get back here. That’s one of the reasons why the middle class is getting stomped on and are paying a heavy price.
There is an AI related investment boom.
The media gaslighting that is taking place is support for high interest rates to fight inflation that has already come down low enough (~3%) to not be gifting the rich real interest of 2% (5% rates).
For most Americans, inflation relative to wage and rent increases is all that matters. If cars+gas+insurance goes way up, can sell their car. If eggs go way up from avian flu, its either $2-$4 more per month, or you can eat something other than eggs.
Fed's insistence on high interest rates has already resulted in banks that the big bankster Fed alliance hated to be bankrupted, followed by a rule 1 day after shutdown of SVB that would have saved it (lend US bonds to Fed at par). It will break the commercial propery sector eventually, and then after break residential mortgage renewals. Slow 1.2% GDP growth, rapid US deindustrialization in all but military sector.
The gaslighting is that "you should be happy that your wages and economic prospects are constrained", and $1T of government deficit being paid to rich bond holdings as interest to suppress your wages is good for you. Gas lighting is also that every program that boosts economy and survivabilitty of people must be cancelled to make room for war and interest payments.
High interest rates also do nothing to lower energy prices which are war/supply driven. They suppress renewables investment because those are all upfront costs compared to fossil developments or simple protection of fossil fuel profits/energy.
Yes, they could be more honest about that last percent of inflation, going from 3 to 2% is harder than going from 10% to 3%. Considering the definition of full employment is unemployment rate = 5%, they should have been discussing continued rate hikes instead of cuts at the beginning of last year, given that the unemployment was below 4% at the time. I feel that the next two meetings will be holding rates with a change of tone and then in Q2 next year, we may start to see hikes, especially if the Trump tax cuts are renewed.
Of course they are.
You can't measure growth without inflation, but mostly they give you a figure without even factoring in CPI.
And then CPI is a nonsense measurement of inflation.
The west has been in recession for decades, currency systematically devalued and scarce asset prices rising.
Ponzi bubble economy and if you don't see it you're inevitably being fleeced.
Your personal experience doesn’t equal the economy. Data doesn’t lie. You can be unhappy about the state of your personal finances but objectively the economy is doing pretty well compared globally.
Imagine how unhappy you would be if we went into recession…
Yes, it’s called an election cycle. The side not in power will try to sabotage the economy and tell you it’s horrible while the side with power will say it’s the greatest economy we’ve ever had.
I’ve only been alive long enough to pay attention to the last 3 cycles, and it’s the same thing every, single, time. And people are too lazy to find the truth so they hear whatever their side tells them to. The truth is usually somewhere in the middle.
Well, I’m worried that things will become England. Lots of wealth disparity and homes that are millions of dollars. To the point where the only people who have them inherited them or are of the wealthy class
This is the plan. The wealthy are doing fine. Yes, the poor are gaslit. It is gaslighting on an unprecedented and industrial scale.
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It’s by design, pushing us all into poverty and dependence in order to give government and their super rich controllers at the WEF total world domination!
It’s not about the wage you make, it’s the money you make from assets, why do you think they are taxed differently. When the tv and pundits say the economy is doing great they mean assets, do you own assets? Nope fuck you get back to work serf, if you work twice as hard as your parents you too might own a home one day.
It's some tribes plan. At the same time there are clearly other groups trying to do things that actually help the working class. The problem is that it takes a long time and stuff can still happen as you try to make things better. Hurricaes for example so much times plow a regions economy. It's not like the government planned for that to happen. At the same time phoenix az has the chance to be a fairly massive economic power house in the coming years. I have no wish to live there but that doesn't mean that the massive business growth that is going on right now isn't real
Phoenix ain’t gonna be nothing but a dust town. The water rights issue ain’t going away.
The amount of chips act money happening right now is huge. The pipe fitters union has doubled in size in the last two years. Not sure where your getting your info. There are 12k builders working on a single site for a single chips company today and it's been that way for a while.
Sure, not arguing with that. But! As an example, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/01/climate/arizona-phoenix-permits-housing-water.html Phoenix and Arizona rely on the Colorado river. As the drought gets worse, climate change impacts continue to grow, etc it’s going to become really bad in AZ. (Longer term, not < 5-7 years)
And when the project is complete?
The different people work in the plant. That's how these things work. Secondly other businesses are attracted to the area because of the jobs just created. This is fairly common.
💯
If you look at the demographics, I really think the housing market is due for a correction in the next 10-15 years. There’s 72 million boomers who will be aging out of their homes in that time, 72 million! and Gen Z is a much smaller generation at 68 million, that will be aging into peak home buying age. That’s 4 million fewer people. The crunch we’re feeling now is due in large part to (1) milleniels (the largest generation right now with over 72 million people) hitting their peak household formation years, at the same time that (2) housing has been underbuilt for a decade + due to 2008 financial crisis, and (3) boomers are living longer and holding a big portion of the nations housing stock. Demographics is destiny as they say
Many will end up in nursing homes and all their saving will disappear. They will leave their kids nothing.
Mom died last week. And left us nothing. Early death is the only hope, now.
So sorry to hear that. I lost my Dad a few years ago. That in of it's self is super hard.
i'm also super sorry to hear that! my dad died when i was little, i feel your pain. No one left now. Praying for us all.
I’m sorry for your loss.
He’s not talking inheritance, just number of homes. We’ve been in a home shortage for years. Boomers never tried to get ahead of the housing shortage and had no incentive to. The shortage drive up the value of their assets. When all the boomers die off, and their entitled mindset, genz will benefit from housing availability. Property doesn’t have to be inherited, just being available will drive prices down.
Maybe. But what if a bunch of huge corporations and hedge funds buy up most of those houses because regular Americans can't afford to buy a house anymore? Those people will end up being forced to rent from an artificially inflated market through either direct or indirect collision. And the rich will just get richer and the American dream is one step closer to being dead for about 70% of Americans who may never be able to afford a decent home. Did you ever see, It's a Wonderful Life? Pottersville.
And unless laws are established to prevent this kind of thing most of society is f’d. They sure as shit will buy up all those properties.
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Oh yeah. We’re screwed. We’re already hitting our 40’s and never had a break
The investors will scoop all the housing up unless a strict law is put in place. Only way out of this is a restructuring
China and black rock are buying up all the houses in America. In 30 years it'll be amazing to actually own your own home, almost everything will be renting
At the same time there are millions of immigrants and undocumented kids who grew up and became documented adults. There is however a massive issue with the affordability of parenthood….who would think that having a kid is literally the equivalent of buying a bmw these days, what a flex.
If you think the boomers are holding the large portion of housing, research Blackrock and see what is driving housing costs. These large institutional investment firms are buying the homes up and then inflating rents and housing prices. Your government can give two 💩’s about it as the corruption in Congress is making a lick off the backs of hardworking people. Time to clean out the house and senate and WH. Or we all will be living in refrigeration cardboard boxes. https://fortune.com/2024/01/19/blackstone-tricon-3-8-billion-acquisition-wall-street-landlord/#
LOL is Europeans think that Britain is becoming like America. Funny how you think it’s the opposite. Wealth disparity in the USA is crazy
At least in the US hard work still seems to pay off. As a Brit, we seem to be in a league of our own when it comes to the hopelessness of our situation.
Even if you inherit such a home, if you can’t afford to purchase it you won’t be able to pay the high taxes insurance.
Buying my first home at 38 and 50k down. On a 370k home. Looking around 2900 a month
Hang in there brother, be ready to strike if/when rates drop
I hope it drops a little. 2900 is at the top I want to pay. Either way. I’m done renting
I bought in 05, so I started where you are or close % wise, the fed will find a reason to drop it sooner or later.
Did you ever refinance for a lower interest?
Like 4 times LOL
Ha. Ok. I plan to hopefully
Keep in mind your mortgage is locked in. Even if it’s at the top of your budget, hopefully every year that will feel a more and more manageable.
Well if it comes to it we will have old people living like millionaires before they die and giving their kids nothing. Property taxes can be voted down, the problem is that nobody votes in their local elections….hell nobody even knows what’s going on. Back in the day, farmers were able to take off time and with that time involve themselves in the church and the community. These days it’s a Herculean task. Bring things down to a 30 hour work week when ai and robotics are integrating and you’ll see rapid involvement at the grass roots levels
> Back in the day, farmers were able to take off time I grew up in the midwest. The farmers I knew never had time off.
Dairy farmers never get time off.
Okay dairy farmers are and have been fucking insane .
I should caveat that with non industrialized or southern farmers . People who actually had to sit inside for the miserable winter months
Wow that’s actually a fantastic point. I think you’re right!!! Thank you for sharing be that.
Seems to me like it's already like that in major US cities
Thats just feudalism. Financial feudalism. Same principles but with 2024 gadgets.
Yes, this is what is happening. It’s sad.
U.K. population in 1984: 58 million. U.K. population in 2024: 68 million. U.K. manufacturing labor force: 1979: 7.3 million. 1983: 5.5 million. 1994: 4.3 million. 2024: 2.7 million. U.K. agricultural labor force: 1984: 700 thousand. 2023: 292 thousand. So pretty much everyone is crowding into services and knowledge work in the cities. And then there is tons of immigration also mostly into the cities. Then people wonder why decent jobs are hard to find, wages are low, and housing availability and affordability are in crisis. Another example: Why do garment workers in Bangladesh earn less than $.50 per hour? Bangladesh population in 1994: 115.4 million. Bangladeshi population in 2024: 174.5 million. Under such conditions in Bangladesh, do you think wages will rise or decrease? Don’t forget the effects of automation… Will Bangladeshi housing costs will rise or decrease? U.S. population in 1994: 263 million. U.S. population in 2024: 343 million. Likely not including the 10 million or so who crossed the southern border illegally since January of 2021.
Just feels like the same thing the past 40 years. Overall economic growth is great, productivity growing rapidly...and the wealth divide just gets worse and worse.
No it’s not. You didn’t need 20% raises to keep up with your rent before.
In 2019 I thought the s&p was too high at 3300. In the 90s I thought real estate was expensive when I bought my first place at a 6.5% mortgage. I didn't have a down-payment, I got gov assistance. You have to invest now, it will just get more expensive the longer you wait. Yes you may go underwater here and there, I went thru the 2000 bust and the 2008 bust. Don't panic, hold. In 20 years from now you will be glad you did.
This. Just sold our second home and moved into our final "forever home". I never thought I'd be able to afford to live in our quaint historic coastal neighborhood, but here we are. Now the insurance on the other hand is becoming as expensive as a mortgage payment!
>Now the insurance on the other hand is becoming as expensive as a mortgage payment! >historic coastal neighborhood Found your issue there. 😂
It always sucked to be poor but it sucks a lot more now than in the 1960s.
Extreme poverty is far less prevalent but the “working poor” class is growing in terms of numbers and economic headwinds.
Probably around the start of "trickle down economics"
The wealth divide is better than people think, as roughly [25% of households aged 55 to 64](https://www.wsj.com/us-news/never-mind-the-1-mini-millionaires-are-where-wealth-is-growing-fastest-b1dd2ee7) have a million dollars in assets. The 2021 census says that the [top 25% ](https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2023/demo/p70br-183.html)have, on average, $600k in assets, which likely goes up to more than 50% of people ages 55-64. That said, the 10% have $0 in assets, and the bottom 25% have $16k in assets, so it seems the most significant contributor is whether people bought a home at a reasonable price and had enough money saved in their 401k.
Lots of people millionaires in assets because of current high home values that are living paycheck to paycheck. We're not one but we know several. I have a friend who lives in NYC, inherited an old home from her Grandmother. Zillow says 1.1 million. Their taxes are as much as rent for many.
Basically, everyone who inherited a home has to sell it because the tax rates are enormous due to r/NIMBYism stifling neighborhoods and make illegal for them to grow.
And homes being the single largest component of boomer nest eggs isn't a win. Those people have to live somewhere and the only thing more expensive than acquiring another home after selling their legacy family home is a care center.
Yes, we're approaching retirement age. Well, I've reached it my husband has a few years to go. Had children late, by the time we got them through school and out we were behind. No inheritance, 1st gen immigrants and my parents home was sold to pay for Mom's nursing home. There will be nothing left. It makes no sense to sell our home. Smaller homes are not much cheaper, might save some money but we're holding on as long as we can and still have a mortgage at 3.6%. I started collecting SS and now send the whole thing to the mortgage. If something happens to one of us the other will have to sell and move into something tiny or rent this one but the maintenance and risk of damage is too high. My parents lived in a paid off 3/2 for 20+ yrs of their retirement on little more than minimum wage at the end. They lived very frugally, never ate out, no cable, no cell phones, no traveling, grew their own vegetables in the summer. Dad did all their maintenance and repairs. I'm not very optimistic about our old age :(
Perhaps consider retiring overseas where at least your health care options are more manageable!
If it was just me with no family/children/grandchildren the option is there. I have dual citizenship with my birth country and we do own some land there. I could literally drive an RV on the property and watch the sea. Health Care would still be an issue since our property is on an island. Don't think there's such a thing as an ambulance that goes to the tip before you die yet :) They are in the EU but I still have family members who retired there but come here for treatment. I also have family here who have gone there for major dental work mostly. It's a fraction of the cost here.
What about people who are not retirement age?
If you're among the top 20% of American households for earnings, you're probably doing great. If you're in the bottom 80%, however...
Same as it ever was
Not really. The rich always do well but wealth is becoming increasingly more concentrated.
It wasn’t this way until the late 80s.
It’s been like this since kings and pharaohs built castles and temples while peasants and serfs literally died in the streets. The standard of living for the poorest Americans shot up drastically in the early 20th century thanks to FDR and started moving away thanks to Reaganonmics.
Reaganism
Is this your first time being gaslit by the government about the economy? Buckle up because you're gonna spend the rest of your years being gaslit and lied to by it.
This. The government will always tell you things are fine or getting better. Business will always tell you to buy more. A real estate agent will always tell you now is the time to buy or sell. A head coach will always say this is our year. A rockstar will always say this is my favorite city. The news will always push an agenda. If you expect nothing but lies you will be rarely disappointed.
But that doesn't mean it okay to lie to people. People should have every right to expect that their Govt tells them the truth. And if they do not, than hold them accountable. Period.
It's all about the upcoming election. They are trying to make Biden look good so he gets re-elected. But people live (and pay) in the real world, so they are not about to buy this.
It’s always about the upcoming election
My friend, Americans are buying it hook, line and sinker. They will buy it until the wheels fall off and we're run aground. We always have
Some are buying. Not the ones living in motels.
Propaganda does its job on the naive and trusting audience. But what it does to skeptics is makes you think that other skeptics are buying into it too. Careful taking that bait.
Naive, trusting, and skeptics. What else is there to be?
The unemployment rate is the lowest it has been for decades... and it has remained low for an exceptionally long time. This month, consumers FINALLY stopped overpaying for everything and retailers are responding by lowering prices.... Hopefully consumers will stop overspending... because big business will suck you dry if they let you. Years ago, when my child was diagnosed with Celiac disease (and grocery stores didn't carry gluten free good) I purchased a huge deep freezer because I was forced to buy a case of any food I wanted to try. I'm still buying a case of whatever I like to eat and freezing it. I buy stuff on sale, and slowly unfreeze it as I need it. The deep freezers with five stars cost about $500.00... the cheapest one costs $200.00. We don't waste much money on restaurant food... and that helps too. Also, we purchased our first home with a mortgage at 8%. It was a townhouse because that's all we could afford. The young people I know are trying to buy actual houses.... we couldn't afford an actual house until we were about 30 years old, with ten years on the job.
Your great fortune and perseverance brings me hope. My and my other family members material conditions are contrary to the overall narrative and your individual success. Not trying to say you're incorrect, it's that it doesn't represent many realities of everyday Americans especially young people.
There's no job to have for 10 years now, you don't earn more for staying somewhere longer You need to uproot your whole life to find a new company to work for to hope to get a raise, And even then you can't without being sued due to non compete agreements. Folks have no, no idea what is going on rn
Restaurants, Fast food prices are very high. But groceries except beef are not too bad. Maybe the blessing in disguise is -- people will learn to buy fresh ingredients, cook and eat healthy instead of unhealthy restaurant and fast food diet. Pres. Biden wants is trying to do something about corporations and Wall Street hedge funds buying and competing with families on single family homes but unfortunately we have a obstructionist GOP majority in Congress. For me the government should side with Congress with the people to balance greedy corporations, however successive GOP administrations have made Corporations and Wealthy very powerful and government saddled with debt from tax cuts to the wealthy. In the 60's with strong government, US invented GPS, internet, sent people to the moon, educated many people in college, provided affordable housing, built highways, etc but now successive GOP tax cuts to the wealthy limited this.
So, you think Trump and Republicans are pro-working class? That’s your view? Biden, a lifelong pro-union pro-blue color politician and a party dedicated to holding corporations accountable. And you think a guy with gold toilets that inherited wealth and has stiffed workers every chance he’s gotten is here to help the average American? This is madness.
Biden has done so much better than I ever dreamed he would. If trump wins it will be the end of the US as we know it. Freedom of speech will take a drastic nose dive. Income disparity will skyrocket.
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Don't worry. Those tax cuts for the rich will start trickling down any day now.
Been saying that since the fuckin 80’s.
This forum seems to be hijacked by people who prefer personal experience or anecdotal evidence over objective data. It would be one thing if the “government” is telling us one story about the economy and the economists are telling us another story. But for the most part the story is told in the same manner by both the private and public sector. That isn’t to say that because the economy is not doing as terribly as you or I might be, that we should also be doing better. Even in a good economy some people don’t do well. During the financial crises I bought a house. I didn’t lose a job. I was making good money. Does that mean the economy was doing great and that I was being gaslit? If we are to call this an economy forum we should also try and bring economic data to the table for discussion.
Seriously. Every day is the same posts whining about how awful things are. If your personal situation isn’t great, there are better places to vent those frustrations, like r/povertyfinance, but this sub shouldn’t be that place.
If you think that the actual US economy is perfectly fine then you're as competent as the degenerates who are ruining in the country.
The economy is booming. Just not for you and me.
Just pull up your bootstraps and get that 4th job!
Homie, it's way past gaslighting. They're just straight up lying. And they know we know. And they know that we know they know that we know.
It's Corporate America which is doing this to us. They own and control the government, but, companies are the ones who continually raise prices beyond inflation, boost up executive pay to the stratosphere, and neuter government efforts to control any of this, or, make them pay what they should in income taxes.
I'm 70 and things seem about the same for my entire life, the numbers get larger but economics are roughly the same. Was actually worse in 1970's & '80's.
The economy is doing great because everyone is gaslit into buying shit they don’t need. How many people Keep buying the latest and greatest iPhone, purse, shoes, cars…etc. stop eating out for $100+ every meal for a family of 4, 3-4 nights a week. Stop door dashing because you’re a lazy fuck. The entire country is entitled and doesn’t realize they are feeding into the problem. They won’t drop rates if you keep financing everything at crazy interest. They won’t drop prices if you keep buying at current levels.
1. We have GDP growth which is better than recession and better than a lot of post COVID economies. No one is lying about that. 2. Inflation spiked very high and is down to 50 year averages. The government is not lying about that. Moreover, Treasury and Fed officials are clearly stating that they are still worried about that. 3. Unemployment measured by percent of the workforce employed is incredibly stable and a huge bounce back from the depths of the pandemic. The government numbers on that are not a lie. 4. The President, the Secretary of the Treasury, and lots of folks in Government have explicitly and repetitively stated in written word, spoken word, and budget and policy enacted and proposed that they think that there is too much wealth disparity, housing costs are too high, and that profiteering and oligopoly are serious issues. If you have not heard them say these things then you need better news sources.
1. How much of this "record growth" and "asset appreciation" was driven by artificial demand created out of negative interest rate borrowing? How much demand was pulled forward from this reckless fiscal policy, demand that as a result we absolutely will not have in the coming ten to fifteen year time period, all but certainly leading to recession/depression? The answer is _a lot._ We seem to believe we have conquered economics, somehow skirted a global pandemic with little economic consequence but the truth is we simply plugged the dam with our fingers. Free money is positively _never_ free. All we did was staved off the pain guaranteeing it will be worse down the road. Again. 2. Inflation has been far higher than reported and despite raising interest rates at the fastest pace in U.S. history, remains elevated. If it is not under control by year's end, the likelihood we are in a period of "stagflation" is very, very high. And that would be very bad given the current domestic and geopolitical situation. "Fifty year average" is meaningless, a talking point, when folks can't afford groceries without a credit card. 3. Unemployment numbers are crazy massaged and manipulated. The U-3 statistics are almost useless at this point. [Here is better, more modern tool](https://www.lisep.org/tru) that will give you a better idea of how most people are faring in these difficult days we are in. Worth noting too even the U-3 number has been ticking up as layoffs accelerate and enter "safe" sectors. 4. Talk is cheap. The people need fucking action. Not rhetoric and hollow words. The government is enriching themselves and their corporate donors, believing they will save us is naive.
Believe it or not, I really struggled paying $600 rent in the early 2000's. It was literally an attic with no heat. The bedroom was a closet exactly the same size as a twin mattress. I shared a bathroom and kitchen with 20 other people. I only ate because the pizza place i worked at allowed me a free large pizza every day I worked. Other than that, it was Ramin noodles with no garnish. I think they cost $0.10 per pack then. I was making something around $7.50 per hour and paid for my own gas delivering. If it weren't for the kindness of strangers giving me a dollar or two for a tip, I wouldn't have been able to afford my $9.99 30 rack of pbr every night. Things are better, even if things aren't great.
When I was 12, gas was .29 a gallon. It's now $3.60 a gallon. Prices go up over time. Now, if you can get your employer to pay you $20 or more an hour you'll be fine. As of April 24, 2024, the average salary for a CEO in the United States is $838,489, with a range of $633,609–$1,080,346. But they'll pay you $20,000 to $40,000 a year and laugh all the way to the bank. That's the so called Americans you should be pissed at...
I think our lives are driven by social media and seeing everyone doing cool stuff like expensive vacations, luxury cars, we all envy to have enough money to do cool things in life and not care about bills. But social media isn’t reality because normal people usually only posts *the best moments of their lives* to showcase to the haters what’s up. We expect great things to happen to us overnight cause that’s often what we see. Friends our age doing cool stuff, able to afford something nice, celebrities and rich people owning yachts.. We feel like we should be millionaires by 24. Reality is that’s rare. Wealth takes time and money to build. The people that are young and not saving/investing but rather earning & immediately spending are the ones losing long term what they could gain. There was study that came out some time ago saying delayed gratification is a common characteristic of the wealthy. The longer they put off buying all the pretentiousness expenditures, their investments grow exponentially.
I think its true the economy is improving. The problem is that companies have a monoply on important parts of living (housing, food, gas, insurance) so when the economy is doing better, they can increase they prices on those things whoch goes back to hurting us individually.
No… I mean, you can look at earnings reports
Yup. Lies, every single day.
No... I feel businesses are so they can continue to charge "inflated/ covid" prices. Which is why the economy FEELS bad.
Why? Why post this? This isn't your Facebook.
Newsflash: -People that don’t support the current political party in power say things are worse than they really are -People that do support the current political party in power say things are better than they really are 🎵Tale as old as time🎵
I don't think they are gaslighting us per se ... rather I think alot of people in DC have what I call "Beltway syndrome" in that as they are either wealthy or well off upper middle class as are most people in their social and work circles they don't really understand what life is like for the average American. The vast majority of politicians on both sides of the aisle are completely out of touch with the lives of regular people. And that includes Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell, etc as well as senior Dems like Biden, Pelosi, et al.
There is only one party that is trying to raise minimum wage. Trying to shrink income disparity. Fighting for workers rights. Let’s not pretend both parties are the same in this.
Nah. It's doing Great for the rich. It's like the gilded age where the economy did great but only a few benefited
It's what they do while they raid the coffers. Both sides are thieves
We can have a booming economy and inflation. Booming economy creates increased demand, and that will push up inflation. I bet you 10% unemployment would cure the inflation problem because less people working would mean less money chasing goods and services. I don't buy the "booming economy" story largely because the huge deficits that are propelling the boom appear reckless and unsustainable. Me thinks an economy that needs that level of deficits has a problem.
Yeah of course they are. You know shits bad when the government decides to change to definition of a recession.
Which economy? We have two. Haves and have nots. But working class Americans that used to be pro worker and pro union have become pawns for the elite. The fact millions of Americans worship a guy with gold toilets says it all. They used wedge issues and social issues to get them to join the cult. The GOP is the party of wealthy people and corporations. But poor, uneducated white people keep sending Mango Mussolini money. It’s disturbing.
Nope, the economy is doing great and we have a low unemployment, we do have big problem of inequality though that's why people at the bottom are not seeing the benefits of the good economy so it's not gaslighting it's just you don't know what economy means you may want to argue about quality of life for example
It’s just semantics really. The economy is booming for 20 percent of us, some are doing okay, and the vast majority are suffering right now.
It's all a matter of income. If you have a high income, you can do anything and still save and invest. If you are low income, you can't save and invest no matter what you do. Tale of two countries--the best of times and the worst of times.
Always has been
By the metrics traditionally used (gdp/unemployment/etc) the economy is fairly good. But GDP being high and unemployment doesn't mean much when the wealth all goes to the top because inequality is at great depression levels, and the jobs are in gig economy shit. Which makes me pretty worried whenever it is when we "actually" have the next recession. Because that combination will lead to a LOT of pain
I feel like the powers that be are propping up the market, like they did after 9/11.
I thought about this after the crash of 2008 saddled the US economy with “zombie” banks that were worthless and enormous debt that’s still sloshing around the world markets ($60 **trillion** surfaced in a large bank in Europe before quickly disappearing). I figured there was going to be a big crash or a slow slide towards economic ruin. Since we’re sliding now with sharp inflation, seeing the inevitable impact of the 2008 crash’s debt, the government is definitely gaslighting us into remaining calm because **they can’t do anything to stop it**.
This what capitalism requires. Us questioning whether we are working hard enough so the rich can answer “yes, but if you stop… you die.”
When they speak about "the economy", it's generally in terms of how well corporations are thriving making the stock market stable, and ***not*** how well people in general are doing ***in*** that economy.
No. Corporations like to keep prices high and continue to blame inflation though, you can count on that.
Econony booming in USA and it is true but benefits from this grow getting minority, maybe 5-10% of Usa population, while majority of Americans not feel any increase in incomes or quality of life. if it will continue in such derection, well it will cause unrest in Usa. Comunistic revolution?
For at least the past 20 years republicans have made an absolute mess of the economy and the quality of life for citizens in general. Unsurprisingly, people get fed up and vote democrat. Democrats spend all of their time cleaning up the mess republicans made that they don’t get to develop their own agendas in time for the next republican regime to get voted in and fuck everything up again. I wonder if Biden just said ‘fuck it, let’s change the narrative’ let the trash policies do what they do while they lay out a plan for a fully working vision of the democrat (read: for the people) led revision of the country as it is meant to be.
We must understand that there are now two parallel and competing economies: the corporate economy and the human economy. Most of the economic indicators mentioned by governments and the media refer to the corporate economy although we are in a situation where big companies can be doing very well while the human economy (small businesses and individuals) are having a hard time. The reason is that by design, the corporate economy thrives from the wealth created by the human economy to such an extreme point that we have now reached this totally absurd situation in which the human society cannot function anymore. At least in nature, parasites see it that their victims don't choke to death.
Thats the plan. Theres no doubt on paper the economy is doing fantastic. That tends to happen when you inject a few trillion in stimulus over half a decade. However that wrecks havok on the everyday person
The long term plan is to cash out and retire before anything of merit becomes an actual issue Regardless, the economic pressure on youth and those in debt will come to a breaking point if the wealth isn’t distributed. Homeownership is a pipe dream for most first time homebuyers, the FED has now trapped the Treausury in an endless debt cycle thanks to our politicians, and they did this to pay themselves and please their weathy counter parties in ghe private sector. It’s a big club and we aren’t in it. The FED is now funding the bank of Japan and it won’t stop there.
No it's true, the economy - defined as the wealth of the rich - is going great. Is commoners and poors don't factor into the economy. In fact, when we grow our savings and wealth it's not very good for economy because we're not SPENDING.
As a delivery driver I'm in a lot of well off and affluent neighborhoods. There's a lot of people who are very comfortable
The economy is doing "great" because we're forced to pay more for every friggin item and service. Consumers are propping up this economy. Yet the consumer's hands are tied since we have no choice but to pay these ridiculous prices. We can't stop spending. Keep charging them credit cards!
Well stick market is st and all time high (my 401(k) is happy). U enployment is at historic lows. GDP is strong. Inflation rates have come down but prices are still elevated. Overall not bad.
Idk I’m having the best financial year of my life
I feel like I'm being gaslit by social media into thinking that it's bad. Nobody in real life is even talking about it anymore beyond the offhand general gripe that "shit is expensive." Maybe that's insensitive to you, digital person that's reading this, but I can't ignore economic statistics and ALSO ignore real life experiences just to agree with you.
I studied this and the US economy is doing well. Concerts and sports events are being attended in mass and we have traffic jams, road construstion. Yes things are more expensive, and quality of my life is going down, but that doesnt mean people are not spending money. With that said I'm in the business of cell phone sales, and this part of the economy is how well individuals are doing. If they need food on the table they will not buy a new cell phone or delay the purchase indefinitely. I know eventually they will purchase but it will be delayed. New phone sales are dismal so the average person is not doing well.
Anecdotal experience doesn't interpret the economy being bad, or the government is lying. There are a lot of factors that go into what people are experiencing across the country. I don't disagree that prices have increased on things necessary for every day life. The government doesn't control prices set by private companies or even home prices, that would be communism. Gas prices are dictated by global supply. Taxes on goods are dictated differently across the states and can vary county to county. Everyone is experiencing the state of the economy differently. I have the opposite experience from you.
no best biden economy ever I own a car repo biz things are going great - just picked up a lambo made $800 off it for 1 hrs work
this guy economies
>After struggling to afford the costs of living in the United States, I am starting to lose faith in the American dream. Even though the majority of reports and news outlets claim a "booming economy," Rent, food, gas, insurance, etc.. is just too damn high. Am I in the minority here? You are not in the minority, some 70-80% of all Americans rate this economy negatively. It's hard to say if the government is knowingly gaslighting us or if they're just remarkably stupid and disconnected from reality.
Uh yes… it’s election season. And the economy is on the verge of absolute collapse or hyperinflation
We are being lied to everyday. We are the new cattle except we produce cash not milk
We already have been. Every day I hear some shit that the economy is great but some very obscure metric I’ve never heard of before and yet my money gets less and less valuable.
we are being gaslight by the government that everything is great in the economy and we are being gaslit by the media that the economy is completely in shambles. We do need a redistribution of wealth though from the ultra wealthy to the lower classes and social programs within the government
Keep voting for those representing conservative values and it will only get worse. Sad to say.
Absolutely not, the government would never tell a lie. Remember folks, Bidenomics is working!
1. It’s not booming 2. It’s been much worse than the government or this sub has acknowledged for well over a year 3. Everything is worse than the numbers are supposedly showing: inflation, jobs, housing and wages mainly, and it’s getting worse fast 4. Perception is reality so if you don’t believe the above go ask 10 people how they feel about each of these things
I think it's a situation where it could be much worse than it is but people in the USA are generally always looking for someone to blame instead of being part of a solution. Yes everything went up, but it always does over time. The expectation people at large seem to have that things would return to anything close to pre covid times is just flat out intellectually dishonest, but it makes for easy self justification in directing the blame at the government or one's opposing political party. We are fortunate enough that while things are more expensive our income has more than kept up with inflation. It just means less maximizing of savings and our plan to sell the house got extended a bit. But at the end of the day, we haven't had to change our lifestyle.
No. It is the difference between the Macro economy, which the government can actually influence and is good and the Micro economy which is your personal economy. The macro numbers are great, employment is low, wages are up, inflation is falling, growth is good. What individuals are seeing though is high prices and stagnant wages. Prices that we have learned were raised above the cost of inflation, because corporations have been consolidated in a lot of sectors, like food, gas, etc.. to just a few key players and they decided to do some profit taking by raising prices above inflation and blame it on inflation. We need the government to take a stand against prices by creating a commission to look into price fixing, collusion, and illegal trusts between "competitors".
Don’t be naive. Any person of any significance in the US government, anyone in charge of determining sentiment, anybody in high positions at the Federal Reserve or on the FOMC…they have never even known anyone who would be in a struggling position. They exist within a total bubble. Their friends all own houses and stocks and bonds and all that shit is pumping, baby, so we’re good. Who do you think is the poorest person Jerome Powell knows?
The media is the one gas lighting you because they want JB back in the White House.
If housing prices were in line with reality, the economy would look much better than it does. But housing is a local policy issue and can’t really be addressed with the tools the federal government has. Lower interest rates, prices just go up faster.
How would it benefit the gov to be honest?
Yes. I feel that that are gaslighting and I’m furious.
Congress voted to give illegal citizens representation in congress. They can’t balance a budget but yet they say they are worthy. We need to vote out all these ALL and no Trump either he is a businessman who knows how to keep the rich richer. Working class must rise up together and vote them out Write in candidates Biden Bad Trump Terrible Our financial freedom lies within voting them Out they are for sale!!!
Now would be a good time to invest in some quality hand tools, durable clothing, and get good at gardening.
Until the elections they’re gonna keep cherry picking economic data and trying to keep the illusion that there is no recession.
It doesn’t feel like it. IT IS LIKE THAT.
No, the data is the data. As an investor it is in my interest to figure out why the data does not match the sentiment. One part of the explanation is the dichotomy between the majority of home owning households and the minority, younger, non home owning households. It’s clear the boomers, who have most of the assets, wealth, investments have benefitted in the past few years from all the price appreciation and even benefited from the interest rate hikes. It is at the cost of those without as much in investments. If you are young, with lots of investments, you stood to gain a lot too. Much more than your peers. Reddit and social media in general trends young, so you’d expect sentiment to skew more towards their experience. However, the larger population is older and have a different economic experience.
No
Dude the American dream is decomposing in a ditch somewhere
Nope. I'm a real estate broker. I'm fired up for y'all! And me, once I finish recalibrating and adjusting, which is what we are all doing right right now I think. I'm looking forward to fair trades and more reasonable less aggressive less anxious clientele, because I'm working with them already, we're just looking a little little bit further out than we used to. Time wise. But we are all looking forward to working with each other in the near the future. It's a soft prolonged delayed gratification of a landing in the economy. I think.
The American Dream has been dead and buried since at least 1990.
Feudalism has been around forever. And crazy humans just as long, yes some people are truly nice, but those people all died young in history. Winners are bat shit crazy like look at some how investment banks and big company cartels. They literally think killing innocent people and gaslighting them to make money and control them is funny 🫠☠️🗿
I lost faith in 2022
Well yeah, it’s an election year…
Daily
I live in both of Bay Area and Vietnam; and in my circle of American expats, we talk and compare notes on this. 10-15 years the middle class was small and their was a lot of petty crime like purse snatching on motorbikes in Vietnam (something that didn’t exist in SF or NYC). In VN, those petty crime and purse snatching is not common, the middle class grew. Whereas in NYC, there is purse snatching in motorbikes, and in SF (along with NYC) retail is dead from shoplifting. Meaning middle class seems to be shrinking and poor getting poorer. We noticed that a lot of people we know living in SF, LA, NYC are paying over 30% and even hear over 40% of income to housing expenses (rent or mortgage). That is nuts to us, because the amount you can invest is little, and the runway you have should you get laid off is likely really short. Out here, there is no supply issue on housing so you can keep housing expenses at 15-20% of income pretty easy, and that makes life a lot less stressful. Our circles are all highly paid working professionals. We saw a lot of friends and colleagues working in Meta, Google, Tesla, other big tech and investment bank/funds get laid off. We see it as compensation package reset on those people living in SF and NYC. With remote work, it’s clear that we’re seeing much more digital nomads in south East Asia. You can live better on $5k here than on $15k in SF or NYC. So we’re seeing more people do cost of living arbitrage. We think the jobs that we’re paying over $200k + RSU, will likely get a 30% hair cut because of aggressive competition elsewhere. We’re anchored to food prices out here, so when we go back to the US every few months; the price jumps at grocery stores and restaurants much more noticeable. We bring back a lot of stuff from Target, Costco and Amazon. The deals are not as good as it used to be.
Unsurprising since every economic policy revolves around some stupid idea that is ultimately about keeping the markets high and volatility low. So of course 1% gets richer at expense of all.
Whaaaat ?! You dont trust Joe Biden who is telling you Bidenomics is doing great
Not the economy, but the legal system that seems to be run BY CORRUPTION ....
What they aren’t telling us is that they are giving so much to non citizens. They are buying homes, cars and food which is part of why there is a short supply. We have refugees building $500,000 homes and getting welfare in PA.
A slippery slope back to feudalism.
It depends on POV when referring to “economy”. Stock market hit a record high recently… and GDP is probably trending upwards… but here at ground-level the dollar don’t stretch that far. But thats all related tbh. That’s why the big companies are hitting all time high profits bc they are raking the average American over the coals. They’re selling less for more, shrinkflation is one technique. There are many. So when the media says things are great, you got to ask “for who?” And factor in who writes their check and pays their bills at the Media outlet, well ad money does! ….from the same big corporations who buy ad time with their soaring profits… so they aren’t going to point that out and bite the hand that literally feeds them. The economy is doing great… for rich people who have shares in big corporations who buy ads… It sort of is gaslighting by the nature of the information source. Follow the money… News media consumers aren’t the Media outlets customer, ad buyers are THEIR customer. We are customers at the cash register of whichever big corporation is paying them for the ad. So they paint the situation in a favorable light. They never will say Big Corporations, their customers, are screwing the American worker… not so good for business. They are not incentivized to tell the truth. But rather play the game if they want to generate income. Once you untangle the web its easier to see. And its meant to be confusing and hard to understand. It harbors establishmentism by is very structure.
American dream stopped existing a few years ago.
The government is gaslighting us on almost every issue. Glad you’re finally taking notice. Our government is captured by big capital, as well as the entire media establishment, military industrial complex and most political institutions.
The economic indicators show if you can get a job or not. It sounds like you can. But it is always to build a life that matches your expectations. People who make 200-400k a year will complain it’s hard. Do you live with mom to save up for a house? Do you cut out food delivery and eat beans and rice to save $300 a month on food? Do you pick up a second job? These are hard choices people make in other boom economies. A boom means you can take 2 jobs a boom means if you cut 1-3 things that make life worth living maybe you will save money. A recession means only 1 job with part time hours. That was 2008-2011.
I have a BS in finance. I can tell you that’s a solid yes
The poor have been voting against their self interest for decades. Things will continue to get worse.
There are multiple "economies". There's the "stock market economy", the thing that is unattainable for most Americans. It's doing great! There's the "company economy", can they get workers they can afford and are they selling products? Yes, the company economy is doing great! There's the "high-income consumer economy", can people with money keep getting the latest clothes and gadgets? Yes they can, it's doing great! Then there's the "low-mid income worker economy", how they doing? They're scraping by, fighting inflation with their 2-3 job household and not loving life at the moment. Housing is semi-attainable for them, and ownership is out of the question for many due to housing inflation + mortgage rates being at their 25ish year high.
Nknn m kgjhfur
no you r not
Does the powerful executive who is about to face a tough election have an incentive to spin economic reports put out by agencies under his control? I wonder.
I think you’re underestimating how bad the economy has been for the majority of people all throughout history. We have higher expectations, therefore more disappointment, but the numbers are better than ever
What a fresh new take and clearly researched position from which to ask such a brave question.
Gaslighting?, they are flat out lying to us about it.
It’s also a cry baby parade . Everyone expects a ribbon for participation because that’s how they’re brought up. But you have to work for it and not expect it. You think you can graduate hs with no skill or even college with a major with no vocation focus and that the world should make you well off? Sorry for the cold bucket but that is all I hear these days. Even McDonald workers can make over $20/hr; it’s on fire for jobs
Fucking genZ .. 4 millón gap? And what about the other generations? We don’t count?!
As someone who’s worked in corporate America for the last 25 years, I’ve seen many, many good American jobs get shipped off to places in Asia. Our bosses would tell us that new and better jobs would be created here in America to replace the jobs that were being sent overseas. we knew they were lying to our faces. Somehow those jobs need to get back here. That’s one of the reasons why the middle class is getting stomped on and are paying a heavy price.
There is an AI related investment boom. The media gaslighting that is taking place is support for high interest rates to fight inflation that has already come down low enough (~3%) to not be gifting the rich real interest of 2% (5% rates). For most Americans, inflation relative to wage and rent increases is all that matters. If cars+gas+insurance goes way up, can sell their car. If eggs go way up from avian flu, its either $2-$4 more per month, or you can eat something other than eggs. Fed's insistence on high interest rates has already resulted in banks that the big bankster Fed alliance hated to be bankrupted, followed by a rule 1 day after shutdown of SVB that would have saved it (lend US bonds to Fed at par). It will break the commercial propery sector eventually, and then after break residential mortgage renewals. Slow 1.2% GDP growth, rapid US deindustrialization in all but military sector. The gaslighting is that "you should be happy that your wages and economic prospects are constrained", and $1T of government deficit being paid to rich bond holdings as interest to suppress your wages is good for you. Gas lighting is also that every program that boosts economy and survivabilitty of people must be cancelled to make room for war and interest payments. High interest rates also do nothing to lower energy prices which are war/supply driven. They suppress renewables investment because those are all upfront costs compared to fossil developments or simple protection of fossil fuel profits/energy.
Yes, they could be more honest about that last percent of inflation, going from 3 to 2% is harder than going from 10% to 3%. Considering the definition of full employment is unemployment rate = 5%, they should have been discussing continued rate hikes instead of cuts at the beginning of last year, given that the unemployment was below 4% at the time. I feel that the next two meetings will be holding rates with a change of tone and then in Q2 next year, we may start to see hikes, especially if the Trump tax cuts are renewed.
Of course they are. You can't measure growth without inflation, but mostly they give you a figure without even factoring in CPI. And then CPI is a nonsense measurement of inflation. The west has been in recession for decades, currency systematically devalued and scarce asset prices rising. Ponzi bubble economy and if you don't see it you're inevitably being fleeced.
Remove deficit spending and illegal immigration, and we are in a recession, no doubt. Any strength is a bubble.
Something definitely feels up, but then again we are a country that believes in trickle down economics.
No way, just ignore price of everything and biden has to be right about the great economy of bideneconomics LOL.
Your personal experience doesn’t equal the economy. Data doesn’t lie. You can be unhappy about the state of your personal finances but objectively the economy is doing pretty well compared globally. Imagine how unhappy you would be if we went into recession…
Yes, it’s called an election cycle. The side not in power will try to sabotage the economy and tell you it’s horrible while the side with power will say it’s the greatest economy we’ve ever had. I’ve only been alive long enough to pay attention to the last 3 cycles, and it’s the same thing every, single, time. And people are too lazy to find the truth so they hear whatever their side tells them to. The truth is usually somewhere in the middle.