A Boring Dystopia

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As US stock market hits new highs, 2 of 3 Americans are cutting back on spending, survey shows (apnews.com)

submitted 1 day ago by FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world to c/aboringdystopia@lemmy.world

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WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumer confidence declined slightly this month as gas prices stayed high and inflation remained elevated, a sharp contrast to soaring stock prices hover near record levels.

The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index slipped 0.7 points to 93.1 in May, the first decline after three months of gains. The measure hasn’t fallen as much this year as other gauges of consumer attitudes, but it has been stuck at a low level since the pandemic. Before COVID-19, it regularly reached 130.

A separate gauge of consumer sentiment released last week by the University of Michigan fell to a record low this month. Soaring gas and food costs have worsened inflation that is outpacing the average growth in paychecks, reducing most Americans’ purchasing power. Americans have soured on President Trump’s economic policies, polls show, potentially creating problems for Republicans heading into the midterm elections.

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[–] IrateAnteater@sh.itjust.works 10 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Whether or not the economy can be called "OK" is extremely dependent on who says it and when. At the time of the election campaign, it was fair to say that the economy was OK. It wasn't great, but inflation was getting under control, employment numbers were rising, it was generally trending in the right direction and could be called "OK".

Then trump comes in and from his (more specifically his ownership group's) perspective, this is currently beyond OK. Profits for the ultra-rich are skyrocketing. They clamp down on immigration to get rid of the sources of cheapest labour, then make sure the cost of living keeps rising to push people into taking whatever job they can get, for wages they previously would never have accepted. All while cashing in on planned market swings.

But yeah, tell me again how both parties are the same.

[–] Amnesigenic@lemmy.ml 1 points 4 hours ago

It's a good cop/bad cop routine, quit being gullible

[–] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

https://www.equifax.com/newsroom/all-news/-/story/faq-what-is-a-k-shaped-economy-/

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/04/worries-grow-over-a-k-shaped-economic-recovery-that-favors-the-wealthy.html

https://www.investopedia.com/long-term-impacts-of-the-covid-19-k-shaped-recovery-5200711

The economy went K-shaped before Biden even got into office. The economy was far from "OK." It's just gotten a lot worse since then is all.

Even during Obama's term the growth in jobs was mostly part-time McDonald's type gigs, not real quality jobs. Then Trump fucked everything over during COVID and made things even worse with the PPP loans, which further kicked things into a K-shape.

People forget that the TSA was always a stealth jobs program for Bush's shitty economy. It's still in operation as security theater and an outright dismissal of the 4th amendment as mattering.

There hasn't been a time in my adult fucking life where working full time even in the state with the highest minimum wage can an adult afford to rent an apartment on their own. It's been fucking bad for a long time. Minimum wage should be at least $25/hour if not more.

But sure, $7.25/hr and gig work is great. /s