Ms. Mester noted that people were also struggling to afford houses, because prices have shot up in many places and high interest rates are making first-time homeownership difficult, putting that part of the American dream out of reach for many.
Lawrence H. Summers, Harvard economist and commentator
Interest rates are part of the issue.
That touches on an issue that Lawrence H. Summers recently raised in an economic paper: For most people, the higher interest rates that the Fed is using to try to slow demand and squash price increases feel like just another form of inflation. In fact, if high interest rates are added into inflation, that explains most of the gap between where consumer confidence is and where one might expect it to be.
“The experienced cost of living is much greater than inflation as reflected by the Consumer Price Index,” Mr. Summers said in an interview. He noted that consumer confidence improved when market-based rates, which feed into mortgage and leasing costs, eased early this year, then sank again as they rose.
Charlamagne Tha God, radio host
People remember more comfortable times.
Whatever is causing the unhappiness, it seems to be translating into negativity toward Mr. Biden. In the recent Times poll, many said they thought the economic and political system needed to be changed, and fewer said they thought that Mr. Biden, as opposed to former President Donald J. Trump, would usher in big alterations.
Charlamagne Tha God recently suggested on “The Interview,” a Times podcast, that Black voters in particular might be turning from Mr. Biden and toward Mr. Trump because they associated the former president with the last time they felt financially secure. Mr. Trump’s administration sent out two rounds of stimulus relief checks, which Mr. Trump signed. Mr. Biden sent out one, which he did not. And inflation began to pop in 2021, after Mr. Trump left office.
Kaynak: briturkish.com
