When I’ve covered the political persuasion of” Bidenflation,” I’ve noticed economists continue to wonder why opinion polls continue to show how bad American citizens are for an economy that continues to generate work. In the end, the question ultimately boils down to one’s financial perspective and the fact that the so-called “experts” lead very different lives from those surveyed by the majority of opinion polls.
A row published earlier this year by the paragon of liberal economic opinion demonstrates the not-so-subtle snobbery that underlies the failure to take people ‘ inflation concerns seriously. It also explains why, in November, the departed may experience a political bloodbath as a result of Americans ‘ financial insecurities.
New York Times Elitism
Paul Krugman of The New York Times published a magazine commentary on grocery prices in late February. According to his citation of Bureau of Labor Statistics data, “prices of groceries for home use increased by 1.2 percentage between January 2023 and January 2021, then by 19.6 pct.” Yes, but not nearly as much as some folks claim, and the great increase is over.
In a normally dismissive manner, Krugman therefore weighed in against” the viciousness — and pure silliness — of the grocery truthers,” comparing Walmart’s cost of goods to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. His outcomes, in visual kind:
Krugman completely missed the forest for the trees when he attempted to refute what he describes as “ad ad attacks” by commenters who claimed “grocery costs have doubled under President Biden and are still rising” in an effort to counteract what he described as “ad ad attacks”. Whether common people know the specifics of whether food prices have gone up by 10 percent, 110 percentage, or 1, 000 percentage, they recognize that rates have gone up by more than they can afford.
Krugman indirectly admitted this with his article’s home- owns. Start with the physical proof he provided, which is a Federal Reserve table of BLS information, to make the claim that food costs “are up a bit, but not nearly as much as some people claim, and the big boom is behind us:”
Well, the increases have tailed off in the past few months. However, the map shows a significant boost from the middle of 2021 until the beginning of 2023. Not simply a reason for the majority of people to pour out champagne and enjoy ( not least of which because Champagne prices increased by double digits last year alone ).
Again, remember Krugman has argued that because food prices “only” went up by 20 percent from 2019 through 2022, individuals should follow the text of” Obi- Wan Kenobi in change: Look, do n’t trust your thoughts”. But to most people, a 20- plus percentage increase in food costs over three years is great. My income certainly did n’t increase by 20 % in three years, and I’m assuming that the same applies to most families as well.
Paul Krugman Is Different
And for most families, it’s not about their feelings about how much more expensive housing has become, but rather about outcomes, such as not being able to afford a vacation, pay for car repairs, or buy a first home now that mortgage rates have soared sky high. Krugman admits he does n’t have these problems:
I occasionally consider what I paid three years ago for essentially the same things, but I have no idea. I know that it was less, but off the top of my head I ca n’t tell you by what percentage. And if you say you can, forgive me for having doubts.
First of all, this shopper pays close attention to the prices at the grocery store. I noticed ( as did media outlets ) when Trader Joe’s raised the price of its bananas from 19 cents to 23 cents. I notice when stores go from having “buy two, get three free” sales ( a 60 percent discount ) to “buy one, get one free” sales ( a 50 percent discount ). And I am aware of which grocery stores to purchase so that I can save money by purchasing milk from Harris Teeter rather than Safeway.
Paul Krugman appears to be uninterested in the details of his own finances because he cares little about these price variations. It brings up the well-known F. Scott Fitzgerald proverb,” They possess and enjoy early, and it makes them soft where we are hard. They believe, in their hearts, that they are better than we are because we had to find the rewards and advantages of living by ourselves.
Out of Touch
Although Fitzgerald referred to the “very wealthy,” the disconnect between wealthy and working-class families seems to have become more acute in recent years. Of all places, The Atlantic recently called out the “bastion of college- educated, upper- middle- class professionals” for not understanding the struggles of Americans in the heartland.
The poorest 20 % of Americans ( i .e., not Paul Krugman ), who had spent nearly a third of their income on food in 2022, were the ones who made the most money in the article’s comment that the percentage of food disposable income has increased to the highest share in three decades. As economist Isabella Weber observed,” If you are spending 25 to 30 percent of your income on food and prices have jumped 25 percent, you are in real pain”.
When you add rising grocery bills to rising energy costs, rent prices, and mortgage rates that make Americans feel like owning a home is out of reach for them, you get a deep sense of unease, frustration, and even resentment that the American Dream is slipping away from them. As Weber told The Atlantic:” Many Americans worked throughout COVID, they saw friends die, they think, I did all the things I’m supposed to do, and I still ca n’t afford this life”. ( Emphasis original. )
To paraphrase Lyndon Johnson on Vietnam, if Paul Krugman has lost The Atlantic, he’s lost the argument, even among the liberal intelligentsia. Perhaps Krugman, Gavin Newsom, and others trying to gaslight voters should step down from their well-heeled ivory towers and begin to understand the real-world issues of the American middle class.
