| Jaicee said: Well 2021 is now over. How did it go? Well let's put it this way: -On the positive side for President Biden, his polling average is the same as in November, so things appear to have finally stabilized for the president. Unfortunately, they've stabilized at a record 12.5 percentage points underwater. Workers wages have risen by an annualized 3% in the last year, which would be impressive in a normal year, but prices have risen by 6.8% over roughly the same period of time, easily overwhelming wage gains. What's more, as you can see above, those wage gains have been had by only a small share of the population, whereas nearly everyone is paying higher prices. Personally, my pay is the same as it was a year ago. Anyway, that 6.8% jump is the single biggest hike in the cost of living this country's seen in 39 years. Americans clearly want more action to bring the cost of living under control. Modest gestures like releasing emergency oil reserves onto the market aren't cutting it. Personally, I'm for price controls. You know, reducing prices by, well, reducing prices rather than by other less intuitive, roundabout, less effective means that are market-oriented rather than consumer-oriented. In the old days when we had a more equitable wealth distribution and felt that it was a good thing, that would've been the government's answer to this type of situation, but now that business corporations have far more power and influence today than back then, as much has unfortunately become a politically unacceptable solution, as the mere suggestion strikes uncontrollable terror in the hearts of the ruling class. That and raising the material standard of living of the population by passing the Build Back Better Act and raising the minimum wage, stuff like that that Biden and the Democrats campaigned on but find themselves unable...or more honestly unwilling...to actually do. According to the aforementioned CNBC/Change survey, 55% of Americans also now disapprove of the administration's handling of Covid-19 due to a recent increase in the share of the public who feels that the White House's response has been insufficient. However, whereas 24% now feel that way, a much larger 50%, in contrast, feel that the Biden Administration's Covid response has too restrictive, perhaps reflecting their greater concern about their ability to afford the cost of living. (Supply chain issues > defeating the relatively mild and nigh-undefeatable omicron strain I suspect is the dominant mindset there. It's my mindset at this point anyway.) |
A couple notes:
First of all, when you say Biden's approval ratings have stabilized "at a record 12.5 percentage points underwater", what exactly is that record? He certainly has the worst approval differential of any American president currently in office (and coincidentally, the best), but it isn't the worst approval differential ever (Trump was at -17 at this point in his presidency).
Second, I feel the sky-is-falling mentality in regards to inflation is a bit overblown. In 2020, we saw prices decrease due to a lack of demand. As a result, real earnings increased. The decrease in real earnings that we are seeing now is largely a reversion to the mean, not a plummeting in buying power when put in context.
-In 2020, there was a 4.9% increase in real average weekly earnings (December to December)
-In 2021, there was a 1.9% decrease in real average weekly earnings (November to November due to the December data having not yet released)
If you look at the historical trend from the last five or so years, you'll see that we tend to see real weekly earnings gains around 0-1%. 2020 was anomalous in how large of a gain there was due to contexts outside of the direct work environment, so as those contexts are being reversed, we should expect to see some degree of decline. As I said before, this does not represent a plummeting in buying power. If you look at the change over the last two years, you are left with an increase of 2.7% over two years, which is still well above average.
Further, these gains are spread over virtually every sector of the economy, not a thin sliver as you state. There is little good data indicating that such trends actually exist. Surveys are great at demonstrating how people feel, but far less good at actually representing objective realities. This is demonstrated by the fact that 31% of Biden voters say they are earning more YOY compared to only 6% of Trump voters.
Third, I feel like I sound like a broken record, but I need to point out again that your widespread bitterness in regards to the failure of Democrats to pass BBB is understandable but largely misplaced. By what evidence are you truly asserting that Biden is unwilling to pass BBB? You know, his signature bill that he has been pushing for the last year.
