Shhhh… it’s a secret, but… I think Paul genuinely believes America will be a better place in a second Biden term, than in a second Tangerine one.
And he says so, here at the end of 2023 — in trying to explain why so many Americans are wary about the economy:
…The unemployment rate remains remarkably low. The GDP numbers aren’t bad. The stock market (in which 61 percent of adult Americans are invested) is booming. Inflation is high, but down considerably from its peak in mid-2022. Wage growth caught up with the inflation rate about a year ago and now exceeds it.
So why is America so down on the economy?
According to Betsey Stephenson, one-half of the couple in the Post’s story, voter frustrations are an understandable response to a very real phenomenon — the difficulty families have faced for more than a half-century in improving their material conditions, exacerbated by the more recent shock of inflation and, to an extent, partisan politics.
Stephenson’s view, as the Post characterizes it, is that wages have been largely stagnant in the U.S. since the 1970s, while inequality has skyrocketed. After the pandemic-induced downturn in 2020, America’s economic rebound gave people a sense of optimism. However, the most severe inflation in four decades largely washed away the gains….
[Another economist] points out that, whatever they may be telling pollsters, Americans aren’t acting like they are unhappy with their economic circumstances. For Wolfers, signs of optimism include business owners making substantial investments; consumers spending at a rapid clip; and workers leaving their jobs in droves, reflecting confidence that they can find new ones….
[Paul himself concludes, thus:] Stated differently, I believe the economy is now performing well enough, other things being equal, to re-elect [even] an average U.S. president….
I agree. See ya’, boys.
Powerline Lies... 