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What’s Wrong With the Economy? It’s You, Not the Data
WSJ via MSN ^ | 04 04 2024 | Greg Ip

Posted on 04/04/2024 8:52:26 AM PDT by yesthatjallen

In The Wall Street Journal’s latest poll of swing states, 74% of respondents said inflation has moved in the wrong direction in the past year.

This assessment, which holds across all seven states, is startling, sobering—and simply not true. I’m not stating an opinion. This isn’t something on which reasonable people can disagree. If hard economic data count for anything, we can say unambiguously that inflation has moved in the right direction in the past year.

In the 12 months through February, inflation, according to the century-old consumer-price index, was 3.2%, compared with 6% a year earlier. Use a slightly different time horizon, or a slightly different measure (such as the index the Federal Reserve prefers) and you get similar results. Take out food and energy—or for that matter look only at food and energy—and inflation is still down.

Yes, some individuals faced higher inflation (someone who bought a house, for instance) but, for the average person, inflation went down.

Yet the average person thinks it went up.

When it comes to the economy, the vibes are at war with the facts, and the vibes are winning. This is obviously bad news for President Biden’s re-election hopes. He can’t exactly tell voters that they are wrong; he would be called out of touch. And it probably wouldn’t change anything. The vibes seem symptomatic of a broader pessimism disconnected from the data.

SNIP

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


TOPICS: Editorial; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: artificialeconomy; bidenomics; biglie; datamanipulation; economy; fusiongps; glennsimpson; goebbelsaward; gregip; inflation; peterfritsch; wsj; wsjpropaganda
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1 posted on 04/04/2024 8:52:26 AM PDT by yesthatjallen
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To: yesthatjallen
...according to the century-old consumer-price index

BS. How the CPI has changed over the past decade. Thus it's not a century old. It no longer includes groceries, energy, or housing....not the prices of those life dependent things matter or anything.

2 posted on 04/04/2024 8:56:38 AM PDT 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: yesthatjallen

You're giving me the "It's you, not the data"?

3 posted on 04/04/2024 8:56:54 AM PDT by ClearCase_guy (It's not "Quiet Quitting" -- it's "Going Galt".)
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To: yesthatjallen

They changed the way they measure inflation and then say we’re stoopid for not believing their numbers.


4 posted on 04/04/2024 8:57:31 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (The worst thing about censorship is █████ ██ ████ ████ ████ █ ███████ ████. FJB.)
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To: yesthatjallen

Sure, the rate of inflation has gone down. Debateable, but we have not seen any deflation. Those increased costs are still increased. Besides, gas has gone up a dollar a gallon in last 3-4 weeks, wait until that hits the economy downstream.


5 posted on 04/04/2024 8:57:56 AM PDT by Reno89519 (If Biden is mentally unfit to stand trial, he is mentally unfit to be president. He needs to resign.)
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To: yesthatjallen

They’re pissing in our faces and trying to tell us it’s rain.

L


6 posted on 04/04/2024 8:58:04 AM PDT by Lurker ( Peaceful coexistence with the Left is not possible. Stop pretending that it is.)
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To: yesthatjallen

Yet, we working stiffs are paying more for gas to fill our cars to go to work to pay those higher insurance rates on our cars, homes and life insurance policies plus for our overpriced groceries. I always thought the WSJ was a snobbish, elitist, out of touch rag. I haven’t changed that opinion.


7 posted on 04/04/2024 8:58:06 AM PDT by dowcaet
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To: yesthatjallen

VOTE DEMOCRAT....WE NEED MORE DEAD BABIES!! 66 MILLION JUST ISN’T ENOUGH!


8 posted on 04/04/2024 8:58:26 AM PDT by Ann Archy (Abortion....... The HUMAN Sacrifice to the god of Convenience.)
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To: yesthatjallen

Note: “core” inflation rates don’t take into account food, gas and energy.


9 posted on 04/04/2024 8:59:19 AM PDT by circlecity
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To: yesthatjallen

Consumer-price index may be a century old, but how it is calculated is only a few years. Feds keep taking things out, such as when energy (gasoline, nat gas, elec, etc) was removed, by Clinton I think.

Who are you going to believe, the fed (snort) or your own experience?


10 posted on 04/04/2024 8:59:53 AM PDT by jimtorr
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

I can believe that inflation, the rate of change in prices, is lower than last year, but the economy is still going to hell in a handbasket and the DIRECTION has not changed.

People are still FEELING THE EFFECT of three years of OUT OF CONTROL SPENDING AND BORROWING by the Biden administration. The fact that people have not adjusted to the “new normal” is completely understandable. It may take time for perception to catch up to (temporarily) more stable prices. We all know that if Biden wins reelection, as a lame duck, he will go on another frightful, inflationary spending jag.


11 posted on 04/04/2024 9:07:17 AM PDT by Lonesome in Massachussets (Perdicaris alive or Raisuli dead!)
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To: yesthatjallen

Its not current inflation vs 2023.... the comparison is inflation vs 2019. Everything past march of 2020 isn’t a real number with a functional economy with lubricated supply chain.


12 posted on 04/04/2024 9:10:31 AM PDT by protoconservative (Been Conservative Before You Were Born )
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To: yesthatjallen

Pure propaganda.

No matter what metrics you use, the impact of Bidenomics continues to devastate the average American worker. Sure, they will manipulate the numbers to have a few measurements that sound like good news, but there is no substantial improvement beyond bandaids applied here and there.

And more important than metrics that fluctuate and can be manipulated in the short run, the fundamental CAUSE of a destroyed economy is not just the same, it has gotten much worse. Government spending is out of control. The graft and waste are incalculable.

We will soon be unable to borrow and spend our way out of this disaster.

We will lose reserve currency status and our economy will collapse.

And the government is completely unprepared to make sure that American citizens have the resources required to just survive.


13 posted on 04/04/2024 9:11:01 AM PDT by unlearner (I, Robot: I think I finally understand why Dr. Lanning created me... ;-)
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To: yesthatjallen
People that don't buy their own groceries ... or pump their own gas ... are telling us inflation is going down and that the economy is great.

Economists track the inflation RATE ... we consumers track price LEVELS ... the rate of inflation may come down ... but prices are unlikely to ever come back down substantially.

I am glad these elitist schmucks are telling us the economy is great ... it demonstrates the divide between propaganda and what we can all see with our own eyes.

14 posted on 04/04/2024 9:12:20 AM PDT by dartuser
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To: yesthatjallen

Complete BS. The number have been MASSAGED by modifying the “basket of goods” or other factors to hide rampant inflation.

Eggs are up around 10% in 3 months. Don’t tell me that we don’t have inflation.


15 posted on 04/04/2024 9:13:10 AM PDT by fwdude ( )
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To: circlecity
Note: “core” inflation rates don’t take into account food, gas and energy.

Yeah, who buys those anyway?

16 posted on 04/04/2024 9:15:14 AM PDT by fwdude ( )
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To: circlecity

They deliberately took those metrics out of the equation so they could pen articles just like this one and continue their strip mining of our economy.


17 posted on 04/04/2024 9:15:55 AM PDT by Dead Corpse (A Psalm in napalm...)
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To: yesthatjallen

There isn’t a drop in raising near enough to get back even close to Trump year levels that are far below all of it.

• U.S. inflation rate for 2019 was 1.81%, a 0.63% decline from
2018.
• U.S. inflation rate for 2020 was 1.23%, a 0.58% decline from
2019.
• U.S. inflation rate for 2021 was 4.70%, a 3.46% increase
from 2020.
• U.S. inflation rate for 2022 was 8.00%, a 3.3% increase from
2021.

Inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index rose 0.3 percent in December, and by 3.4 percent in 2023 (from Dec. ’22 to Dec. ’23. Compared to December 2022 CPI inflation, CPI inflation fell by 3.1 percentage points, from 6.5 percent in December 2022 to 3.4 in December 2023. Core inflation, which leaves out volatile food and energy prices, came in at 3.9 percent this year, down 1.8 points from its 12-month Dec 2022 rate of 5.7 percent.

This means that inflation dropped in increase in 2021 and 2022. But it is still going up.

wy69


18 posted on 04/04/2024 9:17:51 AM PDT by whitney69 (yption tunnels)
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To: yesthatjallen

i.e. Don’t believe your lying eyes, believe what I’m telling you.


19 posted on 04/04/2024 9:23:09 AM PDT by glorgau
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To: yesthatjallen

“In the 12 months through February, inflation, according to the century-old consumer-price index, was 3.2%, compared with 6% a year earlier “

Oh for the love of ….., These dolts. These condescending phony, pseudo, economists.

Yes, you fools, the RATE of inflation has gone down, but the prices, you stupid imbeciles, the prices are still going up.

For you BS spewing WSJ types: you say prices over two years have gone up over 9% (6 +3.2) using your phony baloney indexes.

How much did you pay for a dozen eggs two years ago. I paid $1 a dozen. Now I’m hard pressed to find a dozen for less than $3.50. My math says that’s 350% in two years.

Index my dupa!


20 posted on 04/04/2024 9:25:27 AM PDT by FMBass (Que sais Je)
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