Right from the beginning I want to be clear that everyone that I know is feeling the effects of inflation.
Despite what the White House and media (really one and the same) keep telling us, consumers know that the economy is not fine, and that inflation is a real problem. Consumers know this because we all pay for gas and groceries and utilities.
So it’s not really a surprise that consumer confidence is at its worst in three years.
From the New York Post:
“US consumer confidence plunged in September by the most in three years as Americans continue to grapple with high prices and a shaky labor market.
The Consumer Confidence Index plummeted 6.9 points in September to 98.7 – the steepest drop since August 2021, according to data released Tuesday. The data came in well below economists’ expectations, according to a Bloomberg survey.”
Consumers most often mentioned high prices and inflation as factors influencing their view of the economy.
From Wikipedia:
“The economy, stupid” is a phrase that was coined by Jim Carville in 1992. It is often quoted from a televised quip by Carville as “It’s the economy, stupid.” Carville was a strategist in Bill Clinton’s successful 1992 U.S. presidential election against incumbent George H. W. Bush.
This phrase became a de facto slogan for the Clinton election campaign, and Clinton defeated Bush.
If consumers know that inflation is bad, and indeed consumer confidence is low, then I will have to think that what Jim Carville said in 1992 is still true today, and Trump will prevail this November.
10/10/24
Californiacontrarian