Some people are very easily amused, indeed.
Derec posts a graph designed to be misleading; defends it because it did NOT come from InfoWars, Facebook, or some other obvious right-wing stupidist website;
It was not misleading, and it came from a reputable news organization.
pretends that what the country needs is DEFLATION.
Reading comprehension fail. I never said that "what the country needs is DEFLATION".
I simply offered an explanation for why people are still feeling bad about inflation even though the inflation rate has gone down. The reason is the recent cumulative inflation still being felt by people.
Again, I did not say that we need deflation to counteract it. But in any case, Biden has to deal with negative feelings about the economy because everything is much more expensive. That's a fact.
(Spoiler alert: Debtors are NOT happy with a general decline in prices).
Sure. Also, debtors with fixed rate loans are in hog heaven right now. If you secured a 2.8% mortgage a few years ago, you still have an effective negative interest rate. But not everybody is in that enviable position.
Then, when ZiprHead posts better informed numbers he whines that a chart is not a graph!
That's not a whine, it's a critique of the medium. Graphs are used over tables for reasons of better visual representation.
Also, his table was not "better informed". Both were from the same source! But his was just inflation rates, NOT cumulative effect, which was my point.
if you're sincere about wanting better graphs try fred.stlouisfed.org . It may take a few minutes to get accustomed to the interface, but it offers much data, many tools, and flexibility.
I like FRED. I didn't have time to fiddle with settings and then download the image, so I posted an existing one.
Using Fred's data, I see that "Average Hourly Earnings of all Employees, Total Private" was $21.90 at the beginning of Obama's 1st term, $29.90 at the beginning of Biden's term, and $34.75 last month. Wages have risen with inflation. (As have my SocSec checks.)
Note that these are averages. Not everybody's earnings kept pace with inflation. And even if they have, the psychological effect of resenting higher prices is still potent.
Employment is now 158.3 Million -- that's a record. "Median usual weekly real earnings of full-time wage and salary workers" was $371 in Q4 2023 -- that's also a record if the height of the 2020 pandemic is discounted. Here "real" means "adjusted for inflation."
I am not trying to argue that economic metrics are not good. I am trying to explain why many people feel bad about the economy regardless.
Another reason for the the malaise might be enshittification (to borrow a term from Cory Doctorow) of many service-oriented businesses post-Pandemic. Shorter opening hours, worse service and experience and so on.
But Derec is correct about one thing! American voters are pitifully stupid, and will let Trump and other propagandists TELL them whether they're feeling prosperous or not, rather than just looking at their own pocketbooks. Derec -- who tells us he's voting for Biden -- and other propagandists like him will help ensure Trump victory in 23 weeks. This will be a tragedy far FAR bigger than the 9/11 attacks.
I keep telling you that because it is true. I do not fancy myself nearly influential enough, but if I was, I would be making Trump victory less likely by pointing out honestly where Biden is struggling. Instead of being a "yes-man" like you who can't countenance anything bad being said about his candidate. You are the ¬MAGA, as cult-like about Biden as they are about Trump.