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this post was submitted on 13 Jul 2024
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politics
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The fuck metric are they using for the economy???? The billionaires wealth increase? The stock market? Because I can't afford my rent or to feed my fucking family. Fuck off with your bullshit.
I don't blame Biden for it, I blame the orange man. But the economy isn't an exclamation point that should be used for the average person. The economy fucking sucks. EVERYONE HAS JOBS!!! .... Yeah.... they have 3 of them... start looking at the purchasing power of that money, not just the dollar amount.
This! This! This!
Anyone who can afford to invest seems to be doing fine and everyone else is screwed. Rent, bills and the cost of food are out of control.
The weird part is people think the president caused any of that or has the ability to fix it.
Why did Biden say he already fixed the economy then?
He is a politician running for reelection in a tight race. He's going to claim credit for anything good that happened during his term that voters might possibly believe.
That's not even meant as a criticism; it's just how the game is played.
You can’t claim credit for something you couldn’t help fix.
Politicians claim all sorts of things that have, at best tenuous connections to reality.
We shouldn't accept the claim that Biden fixed the economy, nor Trump's claim that Biden broke the economy, nor either of their claims that they're going to fix it next term.
So Biden’s a lying dog-faced pony soldier.
Aren't they all?
There's this thing presidential candidates run called a campaign and in this campaign they lay out their economic policies.
Presidential candidates certainly say things about the economic policies they'd like to see enacted, but most of the actual policy making is up to congress, and monetary policy is the domain of the Federal Reserve.
Factors which no part of the US government has direct control over often have a bigger impact than those that it does, from plagues to wars on other continents to business conditions.
You do know who nominates the fed chairman, right?
I do. I also know that Trump nominated Chairman Powell to his first term, and Biden nominated him to his second. Seems they agree on something.
That's not even unusual; four out of the past five Fed chairs were nominated by at least two presidents from different parties.
So we agree the president can make a significant change to the federal reserve which you said is involved in monetary policy. Which means...
A president could, in theory make a campaign promise about what kind of people they would nominate to the Fed board. A friendly enough senate might even confirm those nominees.
Other than the chair and vice-chair, board members serve 14 year terms, which are intended to help insulate them from politics. A president with very specific ideas about monetary policy could put their thumb on the scale a bit, but the system is designed to resist that.
I've made my point. Good talk.
Wages are up, and inflation is down. The economy isn't roaring, but it's a hell of a lot more stable than what Biden was handed in 2020. The examples you are offering, while certainly valid for the folks in your community, are anecdotal. The facts are in the data. This country is too big to determine its overall economic health with a localized eye check. Lots of folks are struggling. Lots of folks are also thriving.
Yeah white suburbanites are doing better, rise in fascism often does that for them.
Where are you even getting that from? Economics isn't a matter of opinion. Wages are, in fact, up, and inflation has been easing. This isn't about fascism or race. This has been an across the board trend since 2021. Things are far from perfect, but they are improving.
Going from an unlivable wage to another slightly higher unlivable wage is not progress.
Wages are going up relative to inflation. That's literal growth and progress. No one is arguing that people aren't struggling. Has there ever been a time in US history when people weren't?
Inflation still outpaced wages
https://www.epi.org/blog/average-wages-have-surpassed-inflation-for-12-straight-months/#:~:text=Average%20hourly%20wage%20growth%20has,improve%20their%20standard%20of%20living.
This is exhausting. Be better, Lemmy.
Bought to us by the same people telling us we are doing fine
There is no response you will accept. Whatever I write, you will just continue to hand wave away, no matter how explicit the evidence. I give up. Live in whatever fictional reality you want. I'm done reasoning with you.
Average is a terrible statistical metric for wages. It means nothing other than the rich are getting richer. Median is a more accurate representation of what most people earn.
From Jan 2017-2021, median wages increased 6% ($352 a week to $373), whereas Jan 2021-today wages have decreased 2% ($373 to $365). ^ Add that to rising costs of food and housing and economically, by the numbers, Biden is not doing great on the economy.
I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing long term for the country, but it is bad politically in the short term for democracy with an election in 4 months that will determine whether we retain a democracy or shift to a fascist system of government.
Comparing against COVID joblessness is a hell of a premise. I would argue it’s a much better measurement to use a ratio of rent/mortgage to income. It is undeniable that the cost of housing has far outpaced real income. Anecdotally, this has become much worse since the pandemic.
Additionally, averages are just averages. A decent average doesn’t negate the negative side of that average. In many ways, the current US economy is truly the best of times and the worst of times. If the cost of housing wasn’t so ridiculous, the other price increases would be more tolerable.
For some context, here’s a recent NPR article of the cost of housing: https://www.npr.org/2024/06/20/nx-s1-5005972/home-prices-wages-paychecks-rent-housing-harvard-report