On Thursday’s broadcast of CNN’s “OutFront,” CNN Senior Political Data Reporter Harry Enten said that inflation and population-adjusted disposable personal income has declined over the past quarter and since the first year of the Biden administration and “there is this disconnect. But I don’t think there’s this disconnect between Americans and what’s actually going on. I think there might be this disconnect between what President Biden thinks is going on and what is actually going on.”
Host Erin Burnett began the segment by saying that President Biden admitted that “Americans are not feeling the positive effects of an economy that is improving on paper.”
She then said to Enten, “So, Harry, the President acknowledges that people are still not feeling good about the state of the economy. And he’s right. There are many reasons for that.”
Enten responded, “There are many reasons for that. You talk about all these economic statistics that are so good, and that’s what President Biden’s talking about. But let’s just talk about disposable income for a second here, how much money folks have to spend on things. That’s down this quarter from last quarter. It’s down considerably from [where] it was during the first year of the Biden administration.”
After showing a graphic that said that disposable personal income adjusted for inflation and population change has fallen 0.4% since last quarter and 3.4% since the first year of the Biden administration, Enten continued, “And historically speaking, if you go back, since the 1960s, you would, in fact, see that, on average, obviously, incomes would be up closer to 4%. So, there is this disconnect. But I don’t think there’s this disconnect between Americans and what’s actually going on. I think there might be this disconnect between what President Biden thinks is going on and what is actually going on.”
Burnett then said, “Right. How people truly feel. Because inflation is part of life. You can’t strip it out of any kind of an income number.”
She continued, “We’ve been seeing headlines though, now, like…turkey prices have dropped, Thanksgiving dinner prices falling from a record high…yes, they’re falling. But they’re falling from an incredibly high point. It’s like you’re all the way up here, and now you’re just slightly less up there.”
Enten responded, “That’s exactly right. And that’s part of what’s going on here as you’re comparing it to just a year ago. Why not compare it to three or four years ago? But there are also things that Americans have at this particular point that they’re having to pay for where, in fact, they’re not seeing drops. Why don’t we just talk about living, right? Talk about rents. Rents are way up from where we were a year ago. How about mortgage rates? They’re way, way up from where they were a year ago, and they’re far higher than you usually see the yearly changes on average. Mortgage rates up 11% from where we were a year ago, the average is just being up 1%. So, Americans are seeing what’s going on. They’re comparing it to what the average is going on, and yeah, there are some metrics that are good, but there are plenty of metrics that are not so good, and those are the ones that Americans seem to be concentrating on.”
Burnett then stated, “And, at this point, without deflation, which, of course, would entail a horrible economy, prices aren’t going down. They’re just not rising by as much. And that’s a really tough thing, that people still feel that increase.”
Later, Enten added, “[T]he reason his messaging isn’t working is because people aren’t listening to what the President’s saying, they’re looking at what’s in their own pockets. And they feel the economy isn’t doing so swell.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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