Posted on 02/18/2026 7:04:21 AM PST by yesthatjallen
-The U.S. economy could be in a “boomcession.”
- A portmanteau of the words “boom” and “recession,” the term can help explain why many Americans don’t feel the economic growth appearing on paper.
Welcome to the “boomcession.”
The term is a portmanteau of the words “boom” and “recession.” It highlights how the average American doesn’t feel like they’re reaping the benefits of an economy that is — on paper — humming along, according to creator Matt Stoller.
Economic output and the stock market are surging, consumers are spending big and the post-pandemic recession that many expected never materialized. But many feel terrible about their finances, with debt at all-time highs, and the majority of Americans incorrectly believe the country is in an economic slowdown.
“Traditionally, the economy is doing really well,” said Stoller, an antimonopoly advocate and research director at the American Economic Liberties Project, a nonpartisan thinktank. “But ordinary people are saying they’re not.”
SNIP
(Excerpt) Read more at cnbc.com ...
It’s amazing what you can do living within your means.
Yes, $10 toothpaste.
22 years ago I started to put spare money into the market via a company sponsored 401K. Later I added an investment account and Roth IRA. The idea was to put my excess money (beyond my needs) in market accounts which beat the savings account interest rate and also inflation. It’s worked out very well.
The same can be done today thru a self-managed IRA opened with any brokerage. The idea is to squirrel-away every extra dime in it to beat inflation. Then you ‘roll the snowball’ via re-investing the interest on assets aka compound interest.
A simple way to become a millionaire while living life.
The military also has the Thrift Savings Plan which I highly recommend. Soldiers who did that via an index fund were easily millionaires after doing 20 years.
Yes, I did read Horatio Alger in my youth. But I also had some great teachers that believed in the markets.
At Eaglebrook, in my 7th grade History class we did mock stock market investing. In 3 weeks I made $700 via a $1000 investment in stocks we picked from the newspaper.
Bottom line: if you want to beat inflation you gotta use the markets.
In the 60s, I was just a child but I do remember the cost of items. My first full year in the U.S. Navy I believe I made just a little over 6,000 dollars.
“Democrat policy has been to allow other countries to sell manufactured goods into the American market”
Make no mistake is was the US businesses themselves, chasing profit for a few quarters, that outsourced manufacturing to boost margins. The Democrats and Republican went along for campaign donations.
My opinion, the tax-deferred Trump accounts for children included as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill is one of the best policy ideas I've seen in a long time. The sooner a person gets on board the saving and investing train, the sooner in life they become a millionaire. I'm just now starting to see TV ads trying to bringing awareness to these accounts, and these ads need to be getting aired a LOT more!
Very true, you can do things right and bad things may happen. It’s still a good idea to do things right.
“yesthatjallen
In 1986 I could buy a Radio Shack 19” color TV (the biggest they sold) for $499.95.”
I bought a Sony Trinitron for that in 1980.
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