Yes, yes, a shameful clickbait headline (and no, we’re not Weimar), but I couldn’t help noting this tweet from MSNBC:
President Biden’s approval rating has fallen to lowest level of his presidency despite booming economy, according to new NBC News poll.
There are quite a few reasons why the president’s approval rating might have fallen, but if MSNBC is relying on the strength of the economy to bail him out, inflation is standing in the way. Inflation is, for the most part, a strongly regressive tax. It hits less affluent Americans hardest, and it is something that they (which is, in reality, most people) notice every day, particularly (obviously) when shopping. Sticker shock at the supermarket is a continuous reminder that your dollar is not going as far as it used to.
Over on the home page, Brittany Bernstein:
More Americans believe inflation is the nation’s most important problem now than at any point since 1985, according to a Gallup poll released on Tuesday.
Seventeen percent of Americans said rising prices are the country’s most important problem, the survey found. The figure is up from 10 percent in February and 8 percent in January.
With inflation running at its highest level in 40 years, that percentage should not come as much of a surprise, but perhaps it does, to some anyway.
Rich Lowry looks at a different poll, but the message is the same:
Inflation, which increased 7.9 percent from February 2021 to February 2022, is top of mind for voters. In the survey, 35 percent of people said cost of living is the first- or second-most important issue to the country. Climate change, in contrast, is at 17 percent and the pandemic at 8. Given the choice, 68 percent would rather see Biden make reducing inflation and improving the economy his top priority, not the war in Ukraine.
It will be interesting to see whether the opinions of those who put climate change in at No. 1 will be changed by the fact that that greenflation is going to be pushing prices even higher our the next few years (and check out Kevin Hassett on the gas price here).
Lowry:
A common question in the media a while ago was, Why do people felt badly about a good economy? Paul Krugman wrote a column last year headlined “The Making of a Feel-Bad Boom.” The question, though, was miscast. An economy in which wages are effectively falling is not a good economy, at least it isn’t going to be felt as positive by most people as such.
Even though wages grew by a robust 5.1 percent year-over-year this February, that wasn’t enough to keep up with rising prices. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, real average hourly earnings declined 2.6 percent from February 2021 to February 2022. During that twelve-month period, the month-to-month change in real hourly wages was positive in only two months.
This is presumably why the NBC poll found that 62 percent say that their family income is falling behind, 31 percent say that it is staying about even, and just 6 percent believe it is going up.