No. of Recommendations: 2
One factor in Americans' pessimistic view of the economy is partisanship. A study published in The Review of Economics and Statistics in May 2023 concluded that "partisan bias exerts a significant influence on survey measures" of economic conditions, and this influence is "this bias is increasing substantially over time." Specifically, "individuals who affiliate with the party that controls the White House have systematically more optimistic economic expectations than those who affiliate with the party not in control." Overall, the study says, the influence of partisanship has increased fourfold between the George W. Bush administration and the Trump administration. In other words, regardless of economic conditions, more and more people will describe the economy as poor because they oppose the current president. Since Joe Biden is president, many Republicans will continue to describe the economy as poor. This is reflected in the CNN poll, where 54% of Republicans describe the economy as "very poor," compared to just 15% of Democrats.
One of the big complaints has been going on for decades. There was a short period of time where the average worker could afford a home on one person's take home pay. Now many think they'll never be able to afford a home. We had to raise rates to quell inflation, but interest rates had been low for so long that I was wondering what economic levers were left. I think we've been lucky, but not knowledgeable enough to know.
