• @Guy_Fieris_Hair
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    971 month ago

    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.

    • @[email protected]
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      311 month ago

      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.

      • @Zak
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        71 month ago

        The weird part is people think the president caused any of that or has the ability to fix it.

        • @mightyfoolish
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          41 month ago

          Why did Biden say he already fixed the economy then?

          • @Zak
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            31 month ago

            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.

            • @TokenBoomer
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              21 month ago

              You can’t claim credit for something you couldn’t help fix.

              • @Zak
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                1 month ago

                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.

                • @TokenBoomer
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                  21 month ago

                  So Biden’s a lying dog-faced pony soldier.

                  • @Zak
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                    11 month ago

                    Aren’t they all?

        • @[email protected]
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          11 month ago

          There’s this thing presidential candidates run called a campaign and in this campaign they lay out their economic policies.

          • @Zak
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            11 month ago

            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.

              • @Zak
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                11 month ago

                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.

                • @[email protected]
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                  11 month ago

                  So we agree the president can make a significant change to the federal reserve which you said is involved in monetary policy. Which means…

                  • @Zak
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                    11 month ago

                    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.

      • @[email protected]
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        1 month ago

        61% of adults in the US invest - not 1 or 2%.

        Prices on food have been decreasing, and mostly were a result of supermarket chains dialing their profit margin up - look at Kroger and Publix’ YoY profit margin numbers.

        Housing prices are currently seeing downward pressure. The zero interest rate is what blew up the bubble - and we’re now seeing the effects of correcting it back to a normal rate.

          • @[email protected]
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            11 month ago

            Yeah, they own 93% of everything. That’s irrelevant to whether people in the middle class are seeing a better economy. And, which president has helped improve that figure, and which has not?

            • @anticolonialist
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              01 month ago

              People are not seeing a better economy, they can see past the gaslighting coming from our government, and gaslighting doesn’t pay the bills

    • @EnderWiggin
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      1 month ago

      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.

        • @EnderWiggin
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          1 month ago

          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.

          • @anticolonialist
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            41 month ago

            Wages are, in fact, up

            Going from an unlivable wage to another slightly higher unlivable wage is not progress.

            • @EnderWiggin
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              1 month ago

              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?

                  • @laverabe
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                    11 month ago

                    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.

                  • @anticolonialist
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                    01 month ago

                    Bought to us by the same people telling us we are doing fine

      • @HybridSarcasm
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        51 month ago

        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