MSNBC recently aired a segment that suggested that the economy is thriving despite negative indicators and a pervasive negative sentiment from American consumers. Democrats are trying to reshape the narrative around the economy ahead of the election, as it is one of the most important issues to voters.
MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle recently brought on Austan Goolsbee, a former Obama economic official, to serve as an “explainer” and convince the American public that their observations on the economy are wrong. Ruhle listed off a handful of retailers and fast-food restaurants that are supposedly set to lower prices on some items as evidence that prices will improve.
“A new report from the Fed shows people are still struggling to cover day-to-day expenses even as inflation has slowed, but some big consumer brands are beginning to take action. Target says it is cutting prices on 5000 essential items things like milk, butter, pet food. Wendy’s is now offering a $3 breakfast deal. And rivals like McDonald’s are offering new lower priced value meals,” she said.
The host proceeded to introduce Goolbee, suggesting that the Americans are just too “confused” and “exhausted” to truly understand the state of the economy. Speaking on behalf of consumers, Ruhle outright stated that people are “doing quite well.”
“Here to discuss an old friend of mine Austan rules me president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. We need an economic explainer. People are confused, they’re exhausted, but they’re also doing quite well. So I want to start with prices. They’ve been an issue for everyone. What is your take when you hear about big consumer brands actually cutting prices,” Ruhle added.
Goolsbee responded, “Good, but you’ve had you’ve had inflation that got way too high in the US and in other countries around the world. Incomes didn’t keep up with that. Now inflation slowed in 2023 actually quite a lot inflation came down almost as much as it’s ever come down.”
The American Tribune reported on comments from President Biden, which also downplayed the negative sentiment toward the economy. During a recent CNN interview, Biden claimed, without citing the source, that over two-thirds of Americans think they’re in “good shape.” Watch the MSNBC segment below:
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“We have already turned it around. Look, look at the Michigan survey, where 65 percent of the American people think they’re in good shape economically. They think the nation’s not in good shape, but they’re personally in good shape.” Biden continued, after citing a poll that favored his agenda, asserted polling is faulty and attacked CNN for how it polls Americans. He said, “The polling data has been wrong all along.”
Former President Trump recently addressed the macroeconomic environment in his post-court comments on Tuesday. “Just to begin, news of inflation is rampant, it really is rampant. It’s moving at a level like people have not seen, they to be able to cut it down. Biden has no control over what’s happening. He started it with energy and now it’s taken on a life of its own and it’s very sad. We’ll get it fixed,” he said.
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.