It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his capital gains depend on his not understanding it

I think all of the factors that Paul mentions for why Biden has been given so little credit for vastly improved economic conditions (and I think a close media analysis of coverage of the economy under Trump would show that this isn’t just reflexive negativity bias on the part of the media) are part of the problem. I would particularly emphasize that the survival of liberal democracy in America depends in significant measure on major urban areas in blue states having housing policies more like Minneapolis and less like the Bay Area. But I think there’s another critical reason why Biden has gotten worse coverage for better results:

As a result, people should consider alternative explanations. The large disparity between people’s satisfaction with their own financial condition (fairly high) and the broader state of the economy (fairly low) suggests that media narrative plays at least some role. 2/— Bharat Ramamurti (@BharatRamamurti) October 18, 2023

Think about it this way — how often do you see cable news shows asking CEOs and big investors for their views of the economy? Now how often do you seen them interview a frontline or entry-level worker? 4/— Bharat Ramamurti (@BharatRamamurti) October 18, 2023

At the beginning of his administration, Biden made the (correct) decision to err on the side of increased inflation rather than increased unemployment. Especially now that inflation is back under control, this was a good tradeoff. But while the resulting tight labor markets and increased purchasing power are good for working people, that tradeoff is much less favorable for the C-suite and live-off-the-juice class. What you get under Republicans when there isn’t an actual recession — increased corporate profits, upper-class tax cuts, still some slack in the labor market — is worse than Bidenomics for most people, but not the people who have the most influence over how the economy is covered. In related news, the idea that Trump is “anti-establishment” or an “economic populist” is a ridiculous lie, but also a very profitable one for the right people.