Opinion: Why Americans are bummed out about the economy | CNN
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Because grocery bills and rent prices are unlikely to return to where they were just a few short years ago, the psychological scars from the war on inflation will linger, write Dana M. Peterson and Erik Lundh.

US consumers remain unimpressed with this progress, however, because they remember what they were paying for things pre-pandemic. Used car prices are 34% higher, food prices are 26% higher and rent prices are 22% higher than in January 2020, according to our calculations using PCE data.

While these are some of the more extreme examples of recent price increases, the average basket of goods and services that most Americans buy in any given month is 17% more expensive than four years ago.

  • @[email protected]
    1•8 months ago

    I get that CPI is a target for bad faith arguments from people with political agendas, this is because it has been politicized. It’s an important metric for the incumbent to point at to justify their effectiveness if it is favorable. It’s an election year, so that’s even more so the case. It bothers me that it has become such a politicized metric because it can be used to dismiss issues that are of legitimate concern. If the perception doesn’t match the statistics because people are watching doom and gloom on the news then yes, you’re right the statistics are more important than the grumbling of infotainment warriors. However, if the perception differs from the statistics because of personal experience, then it doesn’t matter how well the economy is doing by the numbers overall, the experience of those individuals is still valid. And I am saying from personal experience that it doesn’t feel that my dollars go as far as they used to, enough so that it impacts my options.

    The politicization of the statistics concerns me because it is in the best interest of the current administration (whoever that may be) and those advocating for them to dismiss those who are struggling as outliers or bad actors when any kind of national average is going to minimize local or regional factors. It is the politicization of the statistics that makes them more subject to scrutiny in my opinion, especially in a world where natural disasters and extreme weather events are becoming more common place. We may not need the same “basket of goods” as we once did.

    • @[email protected]
      1•8 months ago

      If the perception doesn’t match the statistics because people are watching doom and gloom on the news then yes, you’re right the statistics are more important than the grumbling of infotainment warriors. However, if the perception differs from the statistics because of personal experience, then it doesn’t matter how well the economy is doing by the numbers overall, the experience of those individuals is still valid.

      I think you’re making a distinction that isn’t there in reality. The “alternative facts” perception isn’t happening organically. People have been manipulated. It’s not that infotainment warriors are doing the grumbling. It’s that infotainment warriors have convinced low-information voters that this is true (and more worryingly for the long term, that they should distrust statistics).