Zip It. The Economy is Great
President Trump says the U.S. economy is stronger than ever. According to him, the only thing missing is “good public relations.” So zip it; everything is fabulous 🙄.
For the superwealthy benefiting from Trump’s policies and economists who measure the economy with archaic indicators, he’s exaggerating, but not entirely wrong. That’s why people are pissed: we’re sick of being told to believe our lying eyes and ignore our thinner wallets.
Yes, the stock market (S&P 500) hit all-time highs on October 7th. But 80% of the companies in the index are down 10% for the year, and according to Dr. Burry (one of the world’s most respected investors), a significant correction follows each time this happens. But the stock market isn't the economy, and only a third of American households hold more than $20,000 in the stock market, mainly for retirement.
Bear with me for 30 seconds while I use a bit of economic jargon to explain what's happening.
The three primary measures of the economy are Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the Unemployment Rate, and Inflation (Consumer Price Index).
GDP measures the total monetary value of all final goods and services produced within a country's borders during a specific period.
If you want to raise GDP, pollute. Make everyday people work long hours to squeeze every cent of production out of them. Remove all regulations that keep us safe to maximize profits. Ya know – all things data centers. Because none of these things hurt GDP; they actually help it.
GDP measures economic production, not household wealth, income inequality, happiness, or overall quality of life. But it remains the holy grail of economic indicators, and despite people punishing policies, Trump’s policies (and the lawmakers who support them) are so bad that they still managed to slow GDP-measured economic growth.
The Unemployment Rate has remained between 4% and 5%, which is solid. But that’s because over the past twenty years, 5% of the workforce has been so frustrated that they stopped looking for work. Meanwhile, wage growth lags for many Americans.
The CPI measures inflation at 3-4%. Not good, but not bad. Again, it’s what’s measured. TVs and socks are cheaper, but the essentials we need to survive and thrive as a family are suffocating us. This is one of the main reasons consumer sentiment is hovering at an all-time low. Consider this:
Housing prices have risen 83% over the past 20 years.
Childcare costs have risen 93% over the past 20 years.
U.S. household debt is higher than ever.
The cost of college from 2000-2026 has gone up over 220%.
Between 1999 and 2024, average workers' contributions to family health insurance premiums rose 308%. Trump and the Republican Big Beautiful Bill cut subsidies for health care, making it even more expensive, and that’s actually going to get worse in 2027.
According to the NY Fed, inflation on many everyday items was entirely due to Trump's tariffs.
Diesel is up ~30% in three months!
We have the worst paternity and maternity leave policies of the world's advanced economies, but we seem to have plenty of money for senseless wars that drive up the price of gas and groceries.
Trust in the US government is eroding, so global investors are backing off our 10-year Treasury yields, causing yields (the cost we pay to finance our government debt) to spike.
The 10-year Treasury is tied to mortgage rates, which is why mortgage rates have nearly doubled over the past three years, making payments on already expensive homes twice as high for a 30-year fixed mortgage as they were a few years ago.
Gas is up 50% since the war started, costing Americans over $110 billion as of this post (10/8/26).
President Trump's main policies during his second term have raised taxes and costs in 2026 for Americans in every income group except the richest 1 percent.
Personal finance is political. People who say otherwise either fear your position or are so wealthy it doesn’t matter.
What's been happening is unsustainable.
The midterms are approaching. Policies proposed matter to many of us. The culture wars and fear-mongering are smokescreens trying to hide how the policies of some have punished us, and will continue to do so. We need policies that will turn our country around, not BS promises like DOGE checks and tariff dividend checks.
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