Here are what I consider the key points about negative views on the economy.
1. People are down on the economy
2. They’re fairly positive about their own finances
3. They’re relatively positive about their local/state economy
4. Views on the economy are extremely partisan 1/
Many try to explain 1 by saying that things are really bad, eg bc of interest rates. But this doesn’t explain 2,3 or 4. Others say that people are angry about past inflation, while believing that they earned their offsetting wage increases. This could explain 2 but not 3 and 4 2/
That's a good point about 3.
I keep running the numbers on staples prices 2019-2024, because now that COVID "is over", people might expect that things will return to the halcyon days of 2024,and are grumpy that their prices are quite a bit higher. But that doesn't explain 3 and certainly not 4.
