Biden supporters such as economist Paul Krugman often express puzzlement that Americans don’t appreciate the progress that’s been made in reducing inflation. They’ve just gotten whacked by liberal writer Michael Powell in the Atlantic.
Powell points out that the pain of inflation remains all too real for many Americans, saying, “As of two years ago, Americans spent 11 percent of their disposable income on food, the highest share in three decades, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. . . . Gas prices have gone up by about 50 percent in the past four years. . . . Home prices have gone up nearly 50 percent nationwide since the start of the pandemic. . . . the ratio of home prices to income has reached an all-time high. . . . The average mortgage interest payment has increased threefold since 2021. . . . Interest payments on new cars have risen 80 percent since the pandemic began.”
Powell concludes:
The temptation for liberal economists and politicians to deny the pain experienced by many Americans, and to condescend when they might instead try to empathize, is perhaps understandable in a fraught election year. But working- and middle-class Americans might conclude that they are wiser to trust their feelings and checking accounts than to rely on liberal economists riffing as Jedi masters.