The one thing I wish Biden would do is have a major pr push around a plan to make housing more affordable/accessible. Make federal loans and other funding available specifically to cities and other jurisdictions that change their zoning regulations to allow denser housing, multi-unit buildings, and other non-stand-alone-dwellings. This will always run into a buzzsaw of NIMBYism, but at some point, state, local, and federal governments will have to really start turning the screws to that shit and get more housing built.
People need to stop pumping out the babbies like there's no tomorrow. One day there will BE no tomorrow. We can't keep just covering the Earth with buildings indefinitely. Land is a finite thing.
In the developed world, people *aren't* having babies any more. Growth is *negative* in most European countries. It's all coming from the global south. And building denser housing in urban cores where people are close to their jobs and aren't reliant on cars is, in fact, the most sustainable way to manage growth.
The economy may be improving but, in my limited experience with friends and acquaintances, mental and emotional health are not. The hangover from the pandemic has produced a lingering anxiety that manifests in hesitancy about doing many things that used to be "normal". Everything feels precarious these days, from politics to food prices, to friendships and family health. That will take longer to heal than the economy, it appears.
I love wonkette but please can you stop contributing to the devaluing of artists by using the "ai"/previous work regenerators. I would much rather see a bad photoshop of trump with GeoCities flare than more random awkward effectively stolen "art". disappointing as this is one of the communities I expected would see the problematic nature of "ai art"
My personal economy is shit, groceries continue to be inflated as well as gas, my landlord wants to raise the rent to "market price" of 2200/no for our one/one, buying a house is a fool's errand. I pointed out to the landlord that I can't work and will never be able to work, so they didn't do that, and we haven't given them a reason to evict us, but now we're stuck here. It's not such a bad place to live, I'm just 48 years old and will never have a house in the area I love apparently. The housing crisis is real and I'm living it.
Ours too. My gf is younger and still working... at a wage job. A good one but not enough for us both. I'm 68 and have to still work a few days a week, and my SSI is not much cuz I'm an idiot who will have to pay for my halcyon days of UTT work for the rest of my life. No idea what will happen when I get REALLY old. She'll get some $$ from her mom's death, but we're obviously not banking on that eventuality. We like her mom. My 'rents are dead and left us kids ZIPPO. Oh, and I have a 2001 Tundra, and no way to purchase a more economical vehicle.
Sorry to hear that . I can no longer work, though it's due to arthritis and not a readily visible one. No disfigured fingers, etc. But I'm 70...
Apparently you are in the area you love, despite not being able to buy there. I'm in San Diego... Far from the beach I love... Or town. In the outskirts.. ie mtns... With snow... Yep in San Diego 4' overnight last year...
We actually moved from San Diego after the second time we got evicted to allow the apartment to be turned into condos. I love San Diego but the rules there are different. I'm surprised to hear there's snow, when I was living there it was a perfect 72 degrees every Christmas.
Second biggest lie: "The economy is good". It is not good. It is getting better. It will be good when the 1% pay back the $50,000,000,000,000.00 they stole/conned/kept from the middle class since 1980. The 1% have conned the middle class into accepting this crap that passes for the economy. Where are the DB pensions, universal health care, job security, low income disparity? Those are the signs of a good economy. As long as workers are wage slaves the economy is definitely not good - for the 99% anyways.
Reagan destroyed far more than most realize. I did. I went from a good income... Middle class... Single woman... To poverty... Waiting for the trickle down that I knew would never show up.
I've known too many people with $... That a drop doesn't ever escape their grasp... I haven't been wrong in almost 50 years...
Apparently everyone wants Biden to institute strict price controls to reduce costs to 1963 levels, with gas being thirty cents a gallon and hamburgers a nickel each.
Groceries, overall, are still really expensive. Yeah, eggs and gas are down, but I'm still shelling out at least $20 more a week than I was before "inflation" on the same stuff I always buy.
It should also be noted that a historic drought this past year across the southern plains states sent the cost of beef and animal feed (made primarily from corn, alfalfa and soy) skyrocketing. That's climate change, not Biden.
Initially, the price of groceries soared because gas prices were high. Now that gas is back to where it used to be, the only excuse is that either corporations are paying higher wages OR corporations are just greedy, and figured out they could get away with charging higher prices.
The price of eggs soared because there was an outbreak of avian flu, and millions of birds had to be destroyed. That's why the price of eggs soared, and then dropped back down.
It's the FORMER president's fault gas is so high. He made a deal with Putin and the Saudis to cut production to "save" Big Greedy Oil during the pandemic. He also pissed off Iran (Iraq?) with more sanctions after trashing Obama's nuke deal with them. Thom Hartmann lays it all out.
I happen to be a living example of how helping the middle class builds prosperity.
Thanks to Social Security (plus some more or less fortuitous life circumstances), I was able to retire with enough discretionary assets to drop a shit-ton of money on a kitchen rehab. Yes, the one I've been bragging about here. That money went into the pockets of a lot of guys who did all the work. (And also into the pockets of Menards, Floor & Decor, etc., but that's immaterial.)
The point is, if I had to worry every fucking minute how I was going to cover the grocery bill or something, I would still have my crappy kitchen, hanging on to every appliance until it either gave up the ghost or was ready to poison me. So no corresponding work for the floor guys, the cabinets guys, etc.
Why is this such a hard concept for so many to understand?
When we have money we spend it in town. When the Rich have money they send it to the Caymans, or spend it on Louis Vitton, Chanel, yachts, and mansions. None of it gets to we the little people.
Yeah, and enough with all the restrictions. People know what they need, so just get out of the fucking way already and let them buy it.
Nobody blows their SNAP benefits on caviar, because if they did, they'd starve the rest of the month. But no, asshole Republicans are forever demanding restrictions on buying steak and seafood and fuck all, wasting everyone's time and stressing out people who don't need it.
I do splurg on supermarket sushi now and then. But never on recreational food. Luckily my gf works at the local Coop and gets a 20% discount so we can afford to eat good food. Barely.
It's an advertising problem that requires an advertising solution. The DNC needs to fire the incompetents that are doing it now and hire the people that make for example the Taco Bell commercials. Then run those commercials 24/7 on every sports event and news broadcast. Can't anybody here play this game?
I've always thought this, we have a great message but we think people should inherently know it. Shout it from the rooftops (or in today's world on social media and the most popular streaming services). Hire a killer marketing company and instruct them to not be wimpy about it, whatever it takes.
Seriously, is TB doing that well? I'm too lazy to look up the latest performance of Yum Brands (if that's who still owns them).
I will say I'm warming to Pete Davidson, especially after his performance in "Dumb Money."
EDT: OK, I got over my laziness and looked at Yum's last yearly report. TB's operating profit, at $850 million, was up 13% from last fiscal year's. (Yum's net income overall, at $1.3 billion, was down slightly.)
There are still after effects of the pandemic distortions that make life difficult for people. Rent and housing prices are a big structural problem in our economy for a lot of folks. New and used car prices are another issue. The higher interest rates, after years of near zero percent interest, also hurts people looking to buy a home.
Price increases have outstripped the rate of wage gains for enough people that the economy hasn’t materially improved for them.
Heather Cox Richardson, who writes the wonderful blog "Letters From an American," used the image of the Coit Tower mural to illustrate her post about how Biden is actively investing in America. Excerpt:
Yeah... High speed rail from L.A. to Vegas. Shows you our priorities. A train I will never take as I fucking hate that Buggsy Malone's Vegas even exists. Oh, and here's a factoid I have to get offa my chest: Guess which American City is Prague's "sister city"? Fucking Phoenix. One more time: Fucking Phoenix!
The point of Krugman and others is that most households are doing pretty well, and that they indicate that when polled, but that they insist that the economy is terrible anyway.
Nobody is browbeating households that happen to not be doing well. But statistically most households are doing well compared to pre-pandemic trends.
I generally like and agree with Krugman. But he is not immune from error His views on free trade were a big one.
And as far as wages. Yes some are up. But average people only saw single digit increases. The numbers are skewed as always by the wealthiest and their obscene pay increases.
If you are an average person sitting at the kitchen table paying your bills, any increase you may have seen was more than gobbled by inflation and greedflation
Don’t get me wrong. I am not advocating for more Republican voodoo economics quite the opposite -that would be way worse
But these opinion pieces that we are supposed to feel good about the macro economy and just shut and and accept the not so great micro economy are not the way to win people over
Even one of Biden’s top economic advisors Jared Bernstein has admitted they are not doing a good enough job getting bidenomics to the masses
Again, wage increases have outpaced inflation recently. More so for lower levels of the income scale. The data is readily available. Krugman is not wrong about the data.
If, anecdotally, you know people who have not been included in the trend, that does not mean the trend doesn't exist.
NONE of us are included in the trend! Well, 71% of us anyway. Jesus. Shit's expensive. Period. Toyota gets $200 bucks an hour to work on my truck. What the actual hell?
The economic discussion is a red herring. The economy isn't going to defeat Joe. What is making so many people saying that even the prospect of living under a religious fascist dictatorship can't motivate them to vote for Joe because he's responsible for [TOPIC THAT EDITRIX DOESN'T WANT US DISCUSSING WITHOUT HER SAY-SO]
IMO businesses, esp BigOil, will keep prices high during a Dem admin, and lower during a Rep one because you know why. Too many rega-lay-shuns!
The one thing I wish Biden would do is have a major pr push around a plan to make housing more affordable/accessible. Make federal loans and other funding available specifically to cities and other jurisdictions that change their zoning regulations to allow denser housing, multi-unit buildings, and other non-stand-alone-dwellings. This will always run into a buzzsaw of NIMBYism, but at some point, state, local, and federal governments will have to really start turning the screws to that shit and get more housing built.
People need to stop pumping out the babbies like there's no tomorrow. One day there will BE no tomorrow. We can't keep just covering the Earth with buildings indefinitely. Land is a finite thing.
In the developed world, people *aren't* having babies any more. Growth is *negative* in most European countries. It's all coming from the global south. And building denser housing in urban cores where people are close to their jobs and aren't reliant on cars is, in fact, the most sustainable way to manage growth.
The economy may be improving but, in my limited experience with friends and acquaintances, mental and emotional health are not. The hangover from the pandemic has produced a lingering anxiety that manifests in hesitancy about doing many things that used to be "normal". Everything feels precarious these days, from politics to food prices, to friendships and family health. That will take longer to heal than the economy, it appears.
I love wonkette but please can you stop contributing to the devaluing of artists by using the "ai"/previous work regenerators. I would much rather see a bad photoshop of trump with GeoCities flare than more random awkward effectively stolen "art". disappointing as this is one of the communities I expected would see the problematic nature of "ai art"
My personal economy is shit, groceries continue to be inflated as well as gas, my landlord wants to raise the rent to "market price" of 2200/no for our one/one, buying a house is a fool's errand. I pointed out to the landlord that I can't work and will never be able to work, so they didn't do that, and we haven't given them a reason to evict us, but now we're stuck here. It's not such a bad place to live, I'm just 48 years old and will never have a house in the area I love apparently. The housing crisis is real and I'm living it.
Ours too. My gf is younger and still working... at a wage job. A good one but not enough for us both. I'm 68 and have to still work a few days a week, and my SSI is not much cuz I'm an idiot who will have to pay for my halcyon days of UTT work for the rest of my life. No idea what will happen when I get REALLY old. She'll get some $$ from her mom's death, but we're obviously not banking on that eventuality. We like her mom. My 'rents are dead and left us kids ZIPPO. Oh, and I have a 2001 Tundra, and no way to purchase a more economical vehicle.
And we are at the mercy of our landlord, who is a dick. Or is that redundant anymore.
Sorry to hear that . I can no longer work, though it's due to arthritis and not a readily visible one. No disfigured fingers, etc. But I'm 70...
Apparently you are in the area you love, despite not being able to buy there. I'm in San Diego... Far from the beach I love... Or town. In the outskirts.. ie mtns... With snow... Yep in San Diego 4' overnight last year...
We actually moved from San Diego after the second time we got evicted to allow the apartment to be turned into condos. I love San Diego but the rules there are different. I'm surprised to hear there's snow, when I was living there it was a perfect 72 degrees every Christmas.
I'm at 6000' ft elevation. Can snow any month... Though it might melt quickly summer time.
No kidding! You live in the MOUNTAINS mountains! That is cool and also good and rad
The awful thing is that good economies mean our worst people turn to thoughts of authoritarianism and how to subjugate the people they culturally hate
Bush, Trump
Second biggest lie: "The economy is good". It is not good. It is getting better. It will be good when the 1% pay back the $50,000,000,000,000.00 they stole/conned/kept from the middle class since 1980. The 1% have conned the middle class into accepting this crap that passes for the economy. Where are the DB pensions, universal health care, job security, low income disparity? Those are the signs of a good economy. As long as workers are wage slaves the economy is definitely not good - for the 99% anyways.
Reagan destroyed far more than most realize. I did. I went from a good income... Middle class... Single woman... To poverty... Waiting for the trickle down that I knew would never show up.
I've known too many people with $... That a drop doesn't ever escape their grasp... I haven't been wrong in almost 50 years...
Apparently everyone wants Biden to institute strict price controls to reduce costs to 1963 levels, with gas being thirty cents a gallon and hamburgers a nickel each.
The economy would be better if banks, food, and energy producers weren't ripping us off.
Right. That's what's making Biden look bad. Oh wait....
Groceries, overall, are still really expensive. Yeah, eggs and gas are down, but I'm still shelling out at least $20 more a week than I was before "inflation" on the same stuff I always buy.
Gas approached $6/gal last Summer in my small town California. I don't call that "down".
It should also be noted that a historic drought this past year across the southern plains states sent the cost of beef and animal feed (made primarily from corn, alfalfa and soy) skyrocketing. That's climate change, not Biden.
Initially, the price of groceries soared because gas prices were high. Now that gas is back to where it used to be, the only excuse is that either corporations are paying higher wages OR corporations are just greedy, and figured out they could get away with charging higher prices.
The price of eggs soared because there was an outbreak of avian flu, and millions of birds had to be destroyed. That's why the price of eggs soared, and then dropped back down.
This. When prices go up because of systemic causes and corporations “forget” to lower them again I don’t see how that’s the President’s fault.
It's the FORMER president's fault gas is so high. He made a deal with Putin and the Saudis to cut production to "save" Big Greedy Oil during the pandemic. He also pissed off Iran (Iraq?) with more sanctions after trashing Obama's nuke deal with them. Thom Hartmann lays it all out.
I happen to be a living example of how helping the middle class builds prosperity.
Thanks to Social Security (plus some more or less fortuitous life circumstances), I was able to retire with enough discretionary assets to drop a shit-ton of money on a kitchen rehab. Yes, the one I've been bragging about here. That money went into the pockets of a lot of guys who did all the work. (And also into the pockets of Menards, Floor & Decor, etc., but that's immaterial.)
The point is, if I had to worry every fucking minute how I was going to cover the grocery bill or something, I would still have my crappy kitchen, hanging on to every appliance until it either gave up the ghost or was ready to poison me. So no corresponding work for the floor guys, the cabinets guys, etc.
Why is this such a hard concept for so many to understand?
When we have money we spend it in town. When the Rich have money they send it to the Caymans, or spend it on Louis Vitton, Chanel, yachts, and mansions. None of it gets to we the little people.
I'm starting to think the GQP's brilliant idea to get rid of safety net programs may not be so smart.
SNAP benefits are one of the few government programs that not only pays for itself, but actually generates $1.66 in revenue for every $1 in benefits.
Yeah, and enough with all the restrictions. People know what they need, so just get out of the fucking way already and let them buy it.
Nobody blows their SNAP benefits on caviar, because if they did, they'd starve the rest of the month. But no, asshole Republicans are forever demanding restrictions on buying steak and seafood and fuck all, wasting everyone's time and stressing out people who don't need it.
I do splurg on supermarket sushi now and then. But never on recreational food. Luckily my gf works at the local Coop and gets a 20% discount so we can afford to eat good food. Barely.
It's an advertising problem that requires an advertising solution. The DNC needs to fire the incompetents that are doing it now and hire the people that make for example the Taco Bell commercials. Then run those commercials 24/7 on every sports event and news broadcast. Can't anybody here play this game?
I've always thought this, we have a great message but we think people should inherently know it. Shout it from the rooftops (or in today's world on social media and the most popular streaming services). Hire a killer marketing company and instruct them to not be wimpy about it, whatever it takes.
Our side had never been good at messaging. I'll stop there so I don't get yelled at.
Exactly!
YES! THIS!
Why the Taco Bell commercials?
Because they work.
¡Aye Chihuahua!
They do?
Seriously, is TB doing that well? I'm too lazy to look up the latest performance of Yum Brands (if that's who still owns them).
I will say I'm warming to Pete Davidson, especially after his performance in "Dumb Money."
EDT: OK, I got over my laziness and looked at Yum's last yearly report. TB's operating profit, at $850 million, was up 13% from last fiscal year's. (Yum's net income overall, at $1.3 billion, was down slightly.)
There are still after effects of the pandemic distortions that make life difficult for people. Rent and housing prices are a big structural problem in our economy for a lot of folks. New and used car prices are another issue. The higher interest rates, after years of near zero percent interest, also hurts people looking to buy a home.
Price increases have outstripped the rate of wage gains for enough people that the economy hasn’t materially improved for them.
Heather Cox Richardson, who writes the wonderful blog "Letters From an American," used the image of the Coit Tower mural to illustrate her post about how Biden is actively investing in America. Excerpt:
𝐼𝑛 𝑎 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑐ℎ 𝑖𝑛 𝐿𝑎𝑠 𝑉𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑠, 𝑁𝑒𝑣𝑎𝑑𝑎, 𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑙 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛, 𝐵𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑢𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑜𝑟, 𝑤ℎ𝑜 “𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑘. 𝐹𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑘, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑑. 𝐻𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑑,” 𝐵𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑. “𝑂𝑛 𝑚𝑦 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑐ℎ, 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑘, 𝐴𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑎 𝑖𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑑𝑒.”
“𝑇𝑟𝑢𝑚𝑝 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘. 𝑊𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑘 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑘,” ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑. “𝐿𝑜𝑜𝑘. 𝐻𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑎𝑦 𝐴𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑎 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛. 𝐹𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑘𝑙𝑦, ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠𝑛’𝑡 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑙 ℎ𝑒’𝑠 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡. 𝐼 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑, 𝑐𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑘𝑦, 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑟𝑒𝑏𝑢𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐴𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑎 𝑡𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟.”
I recommend reading the whole thing: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/december-8-2023
Yeah... High speed rail from L.A. to Vegas. Shows you our priorities. A train I will never take as I fucking hate that Buggsy Malone's Vegas even exists. Oh, and here's a factoid I have to get offa my chest: Guess which American City is Prague's "sister city"? Fucking Phoenix. One more time: Fucking Phoenix!
Her books are also excellent, particularly How The South WON The Civil War.
I'll have to check that out. I get her newsletter on my book of faces page. Thom Hartmann has shit figured out too, and tells about it well.
Browbeating people with macro economic data will do little to change that their own household economy isn’t doing so hot.
'Zactically correct.
The point of Krugman and others is that most households are doing pretty well, and that they indicate that when polled, but that they insist that the economy is terrible anyway.
Nobody is browbeating households that happen to not be doing well. But statistically most households are doing well compared to pre-pandemic trends.
People may be spending more because stuff costs more.
Krugmans assertion that people must be doing well because consumer spending is doing well seems a bit flawed
Pretty sure Krugman knows how to analyze consumer spending data in real terms and according to previous levels.
In any case I believe his primary line of argument was about real wage trends.
I generally like and agree with Krugman. But he is not immune from error His views on free trade were a big one.
And as far as wages. Yes some are up. But average people only saw single digit increases. The numbers are skewed as always by the wealthiest and their obscene pay increases.
If you are an average person sitting at the kitchen table paying your bills, any increase you may have seen was more than gobbled by inflation and greedflation
Don’t get me wrong. I am not advocating for more Republican voodoo economics quite the opposite -that would be way worse
But these opinion pieces that we are supposed to feel good about the macro economy and just shut and and accept the not so great micro economy are not the way to win people over
Even one of Biden’s top economic advisors Jared Bernstein has admitted they are not doing a good enough job getting bidenomics to the masses
Again, wage increases have outpaced inflation recently. More so for lower levels of the income scale. The data is readily available. Krugman is not wrong about the data.
If, anecdotally, you know people who have not been included in the trend, that does not mean the trend doesn't exist.
NONE of us are included in the trend! Well, 71% of us anyway. Jesus. Shit's expensive. Period. Toyota gets $200 bucks an hour to work on my truck. What the actual hell?
The economic discussion is a red herring. The economy isn't going to defeat Joe. What is making so many people saying that even the prospect of living under a religious fascist dictatorship can't motivate them to vote for Joe because he's responsible for [TOPIC THAT EDITRIX DOESN'T WANT US DISCUSSING WITHOUT HER SAY-SO]