“If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” “Is there life after death?”

“If the POTUS says the economy is great but no one feels it, is it really a recovery?”

I’ll leave the first two for philosophy majors. On the third question, I have some thoughts.

The administration is touting what it calls, “Bidenomics.” Much like Obama chose to own “Obamacare” and turn it into a positive, President Joe Biden is owning the U.S. economy and making it the centerpiece of his re-election campaign. Will it work? Depends.

This week’s episode is a deep(ish) dive into U.S. economic data. The U.S. might be doing better than the rest of the world. Inflation is cooling and people are working. But Americans are also racking up debt, getting priced out of the housing market, depleting their savings and are wholly uncertain about the future. Come election time, it will still be all about the economy, but it won’t be about the numbers. It will be about sentiment.

Chapters

Intro: 00:00:58

Sketch: 00:04:54

Chapter One: 00:10:27

Chapter Two: 00:21:52

Post Show Musings: 00:46:06

Outro: 00:54:08

Resources

Foreign Affairs: The End of China’s Economic Miracle

Associated Press: Foreign companies are shifting investment out of China as confidence wanes, business group says

The New York Times: China’s Property Crisis: Why It’s So Hard for Beijing to Fix - The New York Times

Reuters: Analysis: US debt-ceiling deal dooms Biden's revolutionary tax plans

The Conference Board: Leading Economic Index

St. Louis Federal Reserve: Does Labor Market Tightness Vary across States?

Federal Reserve Board: Recent balance sheet trends

St. Louis Federal Reserve: Corporate Profits After Tax (without IVA and CCAdj) (CP)

San Francisco Fed: The Rise and Fall of Pandemic Excess Savings

Federal Reserve Bank of New York: Household Debt and Credit Report

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