Scroll down to Figure 4, which shows how news sentiment has been far more negative than one would predict from the fundamentals. Please also note that this is adjusting for the fundamentals, so don’t come at me with that. We’re not gonna do that thing of adjusting real earnings for inflation a second time that economic illiterates love to do. These numbers already account for how bad things have been, it’s just that the news sentiment is *even worse*.
>In sum, the discrepancy between the macroeconomy and household sentiment has given rise to several competing theories to explain the apparent disconnect. Our simple econometric model adds to evidence that biased sources of information play a role, and suggests that economic news has become systemically more negative beginning in 2018, with the negative bias growing over the past three years. To be clear, this analysis shows that the conditional tone of news is becoming more negative over time, but requires assumptions about how this increased negativity affects sentiment—including in particular the role of systematic bias in driving inaccurate perceptions about U.S. economic performance. While this new relationship may not explain the entire sentiment puzzle, it presents novel explanations for why consumer sentiment appears to be divorced from the macroeconomy and why survey respondents inaccurately describe the U.S. economy to be in a recession.
I think it has something to do with it being so expensive to buy anything.
lol why is anyone pretending the economy is ok? Thank god I make decent money. I seriously don’t know how people who don’t are surviving
While the economy isn’t terrible, most middle class citizens are not living comfortably, and young Americans looking to purchase their first homes are struggling to make it happen while watching their prospects of doing so slip further and further away. Couple this with the news and “experts” constantly ramming down their throats how well the economy is doing people are becoming disgruntled with their situations and taking on a negative sentiment towards the economy.
Holy fuck how many times are you guys going to post this shit?
The “economy” is for the rich people. The “economy” doing well doesn’t mean that wealth has “trickled down” to the masses. We’re living in a time of unchecked corruption and greed and the average everyday American is *struggling* just to make ends meet. A lot of people are falling into homelessness and have found themselves living in shantytowns and church parking lots.
Share with the rest of us through fair wages and people will be “pleased with the economy”. Nothing is reaching the middle class and below. The rich take it all for themselves.
Could the effectiveness of modern social media advertising algorithms be playing a role? Nothing drives home the point that a person is “poor” than being constantly bombarded by ads for things you think you need but cannot afford it all.
Because I’m way worse off.
Politics, and because it’s good for the news industry. Politically motivated news orgs promote a thought trend and all the others follow the money.
Because it only benefits the rich.
*Young adults, fresh out of college and not making 6 figures immediately*
“Everyone is struggling!!!”
Because most of us work full time and still can hardly afford bills, medicine, healthcare, food, or any sort of leisurely activities. My rent has gone up every year since 2018, along with electric, water, gas, food prices, etc. My wages have not gone up to match.
And sorry to be the bearer of bad news to the folks in here who are either lucky enough to win the birth lottery or worked hard enough to get ahead, but finding a new job or going back to school literally isnt feasible for some. Im applying to colleges this fall to go for my bachelors because my associates is essentially a wet napkin. A lot of us are actually trying and working really hard and still not seeing much of a payoff.
When I hear the economy is doing well, it just translates to companies and people with ungodly amounts of money are doing well. For the non existent middle class and people making less, the 2023 economy was brutal. The buck is not going as far as it use to with the cost of living increasing on everything critical like food, utilities and rent. I agree with some comments that politics are trying to use this negative outlook to sway votes but regardless, it’s a very frustrating time for many American trying to get by. It’s hard to be happy when your hard work only allots you the bare minimum of needs.
I’m better now than 4 years ago. Love the US.
I just paid $5 for a gallon water
Does it take a scientist to figure it out? Shit costs way more than it used to. Study complete
Because they are told to every night on Fox News.
The parasite class has stolen everyone’s future from them.
Food, shelter, medical, transportation, income…..
Are just a few big reasons why working Americans are displeased with the economy.
It’s no consolation that corporations are raking in $billions and already wealthy investors are sitting on their asses/assets raking in $millions.
Do people need a degree in economics to see this?
Cuz we’re being bled dry and 5 people have more money than the entire “middle class”. Billionaires shouldn’t exist, eat the rich
Do you really need to ask?
Because of questions like this.
Dawg groceries have tripled, gas has gone up 40%. These “economists” writing these articles are fried bro.
I guess you can call it wealth inequality, but simply over the last 20 years wages have been driven down. Literally 1/3 of workers now make under $40k a year. Even with two incomes, buying a house isn’t happening for people like that.
Even college grads are hurting. Unless you got a stem degree or graduated from a prestigious college, odds are good you will get a job around $45k to start and those jobs demand a degree and often a specialty.
When I graduated in the 1980s, the jobs no one wanted were paying what is about $60k in today’s money.
Cause Americans like to buy shit, and now shit is more expensive so they’re mad that they can’t buy the shit they want!
Because actual incomes that people earn in a particular job hasn’t kept up with the cost of living and are very low compared to past decades. Many people are forced to work more than one job. That isn’t the way it’s supposed to be. But it is the way the corporations and politicians like it.
The very overly simplistic way of viewing this is that wages have not kept up with COL. Those at the top of corporations, banks, etc are doing great because the average American works our ass off just to have food and a roof. Inflation was at 9% at one point, now we’re down to 3ish, great. How much have gross wages gone up? About 3%ish. So in this sense we’re all about 6% short of catching up to COL. These are observational numbers, not science.
26 comments
Scroll down to Figure 4, which shows how news sentiment has been far more negative than one would predict from the fundamentals. Please also note that this is adjusting for the fundamentals, so don’t come at me with that. We’re not gonna do that thing of adjusting real earnings for inflation a second time that economic illiterates love to do. These numbers already account for how bad things have been, it’s just that the news sentiment is *even worse*.
>In sum, the discrepancy between the macroeconomy and household sentiment has given rise to several competing theories to explain the apparent disconnect. Our simple econometric model adds to evidence that biased sources of information play a role, and suggests that economic news has become systemically more negative beginning in 2018, with the negative bias growing over the past three years. To be clear, this analysis shows that the conditional tone of news is becoming more negative over time, but requires assumptions about how this increased negativity affects sentiment—including in particular the role of systematic bias in driving inaccurate perceptions about U.S. economic performance. While this new relationship may not explain the entire sentiment puzzle, it presents novel explanations for why consumer sentiment appears to be divorced from the macroeconomy and why survey respondents inaccurately describe the U.S. economy to be in a recession.
I think it has something to do with it being so expensive to buy anything.
lol why is anyone pretending the economy is ok? Thank god I make decent money. I seriously don’t know how people who don’t are surviving
While the economy isn’t terrible, most middle class citizens are not living comfortably, and young Americans looking to purchase their first homes are struggling to make it happen while watching their prospects of doing so slip further and further away. Couple this with the news and “experts” constantly ramming down their throats how well the economy is doing people are becoming disgruntled with their situations and taking on a negative sentiment towards the economy.
Holy fuck how many times are you guys going to post this shit?
The “economy” is for the rich people. The “economy” doing well doesn’t mean that wealth has “trickled down” to the masses. We’re living in a time of unchecked corruption and greed and the average everyday American is *struggling* just to make ends meet. A lot of people are falling into homelessness and have found themselves living in shantytowns and church parking lots.
Share with the rest of us through fair wages and people will be “pleased with the economy”. Nothing is reaching the middle class and below. The rich take it all for themselves.
Could the effectiveness of modern social media advertising algorithms be playing a role? Nothing drives home the point that a person is “poor” than being constantly bombarded by ads for things you think you need but cannot afford it all.
Because I’m way worse off.
Politics, and because it’s good for the news industry. Politically motivated news orgs promote a thought trend and all the others follow the money.
Because it only benefits the rich.
*Young adults, fresh out of college and not making 6 figures immediately*
“Everyone is struggling!!!”
Because most of us work full time and still can hardly afford bills, medicine, healthcare, food, or any sort of leisurely activities. My rent has gone up every year since 2018, along with electric, water, gas, food prices, etc. My wages have not gone up to match.
And sorry to be the bearer of bad news to the folks in here who are either lucky enough to win the birth lottery or worked hard enough to get ahead, but finding a new job or going back to school literally isnt feasible for some. Im applying to colleges this fall to go for my bachelors because my associates is essentially a wet napkin. A lot of us are actually trying and working really hard and still not seeing much of a payoff.
When I hear the economy is doing well, it just translates to companies and people with ungodly amounts of money are doing well. For the non existent middle class and people making less, the 2023 economy was brutal. The buck is not going as far as it use to with the cost of living increasing on everything critical like food, utilities and rent. I agree with some comments that politics are trying to use this negative outlook to sway votes but regardless, it’s a very frustrating time for many American trying to get by. It’s hard to be happy when your hard work only allots you the bare minimum of needs.
I’m better now than 4 years ago. Love the US.
I just paid $5 for a gallon water
Does it take a scientist to figure it out? Shit costs way more than it used to. Study complete
Because they are told to every night on Fox News.
The parasite class has stolen everyone’s future from them.
Food, shelter, medical, transportation, income…..
Are just a few big reasons why working Americans are displeased with the economy.
It’s no consolation that corporations are raking in $billions and already wealthy investors are sitting on their asses/assets raking in $millions.
Do people need a degree in economics to see this?
Cuz we’re being bled dry and 5 people have more money than the entire “middle class”. Billionaires shouldn’t exist, eat the rich
Do you really need to ask?
Because of questions like this.
Dawg groceries have tripled, gas has gone up 40%. These “economists” writing these articles are fried bro.
I guess you can call it wealth inequality, but simply over the last 20 years wages have been driven down. Literally 1/3 of workers now make under $40k a year. Even with two incomes, buying a house isn’t happening for people like that.
Even college grads are hurting. Unless you got a stem degree or graduated from a prestigious college, odds are good you will get a job around $45k to start and those jobs demand a degree and often a specialty.
When I graduated in the 1980s, the jobs no one wanted were paying what is about $60k in today’s money.
Cause Americans like to buy shit, and now shit is more expensive so they’re mad that they can’t buy the shit they want!
Because actual incomes that people earn in a particular job hasn’t kept up with the cost of living and are very low compared to past decades. Many people are forced to work more than one job. That isn’t the way it’s supposed to be. But it is the way the corporations and politicians like it.
The very overly simplistic way of viewing this is that wages have not kept up with COL. Those at the top of corporations, banks, etc are doing great because the average American works our ass off just to have food and a roof. Inflation was at 9% at one point, now we’re down to 3ish, great. How much have gross wages gone up? About 3%ish. So in this sense we’re all about 6% short of catching up to COL. These are observational numbers, not science.