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Note to Reporters: Americans Are Better Off Even After Inflation
Washington Monthly ^ | February 23, 2022 | Robert Shapiro

Posted on 02/23/2022 6:54:27 AM PST by artichokegrower

According to conventional wisdom, inflation has left most Americans poorer. It’s an odd view, given that the number of people with jobs jumped by 4.7 percent in 2021, and the economy grew by 5.7 percent after inflation. It was the U.S. economy’s best performance in decades. If people are poorer, why did household spending jump by 8.8 percent in 2021, after inflation, including increases of 25.8 percent for clothing and shoes and 11.6 percent for home furnishings?

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonmonthly.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: bideneconomy; gaslighting; inflation; propaganda
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Conventional wisdom-mongers such as GOP leaders and Trumpist commentators are eager to throw shade on an economic boom under a Democratic president and Congress. And many people who feel the sticker shock when they fill their gas tanks these days believe it too, especially since many nonpolitical media didn’t check the data before pushing the meme..


Excuse me I was just getting over the shock of paying $120 to fill up my pickup

1 posted on 02/23/2022 6:54:27 AM PST by artichokegrower
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To: artichokegrower
"If people are poorer, why did household spending jump by 8.8 percent in 2021"

Because they got free Covid money. A job lasts longer. When all those Covid buys are not repeated, because the money is cut off....there will be a crash.

2 posted on 02/23/2022 6:56:14 AM PST by Pxzftrnqfrn
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To: artichokegrower
the economy grew by 5.7 percent after inflation.

That is flat out a lie.
3 posted on 02/23/2022 6:57:39 AM PST by JoSixChip (2020: The year of unreported truths; 2021: My main take away from this year? Trust no one.)
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To: artichokegrower

I’m guessing the writer doesn’t rememeber the 1970s inflation. That might explain why he doesn’t have a clue.


4 posted on 02/23/2022 6:59:14 AM PST by BenLurkin ((The above is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion, or satire. Or both.))
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To: artichokegrower

If you dig yourself into an economic hole out of panic and stupidity, climbing only half way out again is not exactly a thing to be proud of.

This is literally the government breaking your leg, giving you crutches, and telling you to be grateful because you can still walk...


5 posted on 02/23/2022 6:59:49 AM PST by Dead Corpse (A Psalm in napalm...)
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To: artichokegrower

there is no limit to the stupidity these whores will employ to defend the demholes


6 posted on 02/23/2022 7:00:20 AM PST by wny ( )
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To: artichokegrower
One reason spending increased in 2021 is because a lot of people who had money held off on making big money decisions during 2020. It was wise to wait until the dust settles.

So talking about spending increasing in 2021 compared to 2020 is like saying you're an awesome football team if your record was better than Vanderbilt's. LOL

7 posted on 02/23/2022 7:00:34 AM PST by Tell It Right (1st Thessalonians 5:21 -- Put everything to the test, hold fast to that which is true.)
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To: Pxzftrnqfrn

They got those child tax credits checks. 300+ per child per month. That adds up across millions of children. Plus they got bonus ebt benefits. I got nothing except to pay for it, and feel the pinch of inflation


8 posted on 02/23/2022 7:01:46 AM PST by newzjunkey (“We Did It Joe!” - The Taliban)
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To: artichokegrower
They can manipulate the headlines all they want.

Everyone who drives to work is buying gas today.

Everyone who rents must pay it this month.

Everyone who eats must buy food.

No amount of headlines telling you how great things are is going to change your reality that you must live every day.

9 posted on 02/23/2022 7:02:13 AM PST by HandBasketHell
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To: artichokegrower

The writer is an idiot Dem sycophant with a keyboard.


10 posted on 02/23/2022 7:02:22 AM PST by 1Old Pro
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To: artichokegrower

Ramblings of a sycophant.

Basically who are you going to believe stuff, “your lying eyes or me?”

Everyone can see it, no amount of rambling rhetoric empty of reality will change that.


11 posted on 02/23/2022 7:02:45 AM PST by Skwor
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To: artichokegrower

12 posted on 02/23/2022 7:03:53 AM PST by Joe Brower ("Might we not live in a nobler dream than this?" -- John Ruskin)
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To: artichokegrower

My last heating bill was almost double that of a year ago. But hey, somebody somewhere manipulated some data to make things look great.

So I guess everything is okay after all.


13 posted on 02/23/2022 7:04:08 AM PST by Leaning Right (The steal is real.)
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To: artichokegrower

"Inflation is our friend! Wouldn't you like to own a $4,000 suit, and smoke a $75 cigar, drive a $600,000 car? I know I would! "

14 posted on 02/23/2022 7:04:17 AM PST by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: artichokegrower

Funny…

Remember that 1992 was “..the WORST economy in the last FIFTY years!!”?

That was a sniffle; today we have pneumonia.


15 posted on 02/23/2022 7:04:23 AM PST by joethedrummer (We can’t vote our way out of this, folks..)
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To: Pxzftrnqfrn

If things cost more they also had no choice but to spend more.


16 posted on 02/23/2022 7:04:24 AM PST by Republican Wildcat
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To: joethedrummer

It was actually a growing, increasingly healthy economy after coming out of a mild recession that was long over by the time of that election.

But, media narratives, etc. prevailed.


17 posted on 02/23/2022 7:05:46 AM PST by Republican Wildcat
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To: artichokegrower
If people are poorer, why did household spending jump by 8.8 percent in 2021, after inflation,

Spend the cash now or burn it to heat your house next winter. It's the beginning of a classic hyperinflation spiral where no one wants to keep dollars but would rather have goods at any price.

18 posted on 02/23/2022 7:06:12 AM PST by KarlInOhio (Dictatorship: now available in maple flavor.)
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To: artichokegrower

Bob, you are a moron or a democrat, but I repeat.


19 posted on 02/23/2022 7:06:39 AM PST by VTenigma (The Democrat party is the party of the mathematically challenged )
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To: Dead Corpse
This is literally the government breaking your leg, giving you crutches, and telling you to be grateful because you can still walk...

I wouldn't say it's literally that but it's a great analogy, nonetheless.

20 posted on 02/23/2022 7:07:05 AM PST by libertylover (Our BIGGEST problem, by far, is that most of the media is hate & agenda driven, not truth driven.)
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