Surveys Show That the American People Absolutely Hate What Is Happening to the Economy, and This Is Why

The health of the economy has been one of the primary determining factors in many presidential elections, and it will be the same this time around too.  Of course that is really bad news for Joe Biden, because the American people absolutely hate what is happening to the economy.  Even though the media is constantly telling us that the economy is doing just fine, the vast majority of the population is not buying into the propaganda.  Hordes of small businesses are failing, retailers are shutting down thousands of stores, and poverty is exploding all over the nation.  But inflation is the biggest reason why Americans are so dissatisfied with the economy.  According to one recent survey, it is “far and away” the biggest issue for American voters…

Inflation is “far and away” the biggest issue for Americans heading into the 2024 election, but economic outlooks and President Biden’s approval rating vary by race and ethnicity, according to a new Harvard CAPS/Harris poll.

That survey found that 58 percent of Americans consider the economy to be weak, and only 34 percent think that it is on the right track…

When asked how strong they think the economy is today, 42 percent of respondents said it was strong while 58 percent perceive the economy as weak, according to the online survey of 1,660 registered voters conducted May 15-16, 2024.

Just 34 percent of respondents said they believe the economy is on the right track, although that answer varied significantly depending on whether the respondent was a Republican or Democrat — 13 percent and 59 percent, respectively.

Other surveys have come up with similar results.

According to a recent ABC News/Ipsos survey, 85 percent of U.S. adults consider inflation to be an important issue…

U.S. adults trust former President Donald Trump over President Joe Biden on the issue of inflation by a double-digit margin, according to a new ABC News/Ipsos poll this month, which found that price increases remain a top concern for voters, with less than six months to go until Election Day.

In all, 85% of poll participants said inflation is an important issue, making it the second-highest priority among adults surveyed. The top priority, the economy, also relates to individuals’ perceptions of price increases.

On each of those issues, the economy and inflation, adults surveyed by ABC News/Ipsos said they trusted Trump over Biden by a margin of 14 percentage points.

Why are we seeing poll results like this when inflation is supposedly not even a problem?

Right now, headlines all over the country are bolding declaring that inflation is under control.

You can believe that if you want, but the truth is that the cost of just about everything has been soaring in recent years…

Gas prices are currently sitting at a national average of $3.45 per gallon, down from $3.50 last week as low demand and increasing supply provide relief at the pump, AAA said. But overall, today’s prices are still 45% more expensive than in January 2021, when it cost $2.38 per gallon to fill up.

Electricity costs are up about 29% since Biden took office.

It also costs more to buy a car (20.4% increase), maintain it (30.5%) and insure it (51.3%) than it did four years ago.

Housing costs have become particularly painful.

Just check out these numbers…

The real estate firm Zillow reports that since January 2020, the monthly mortgage payment on a typical U.S. home has nearly doubled. It’s up 96% in just four years.

According to Zillow, a typical buyer will now pay nearly $2,200 a month, with a 10% down payment. Meaning, homeownership now costs well above the 30% of median income that was once thought to equate to “affordable” housing cost in America.

And with the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage hovering around seven percent right now, there’s not a whole lot of light at the end of this tunnel.

Small businesses are also being crushed by inflation.

In a recent piece for the Daily Mail, Kevin O’Leary explained that food costs for restaurants have spiked “30 to 40 percent over the last 36 months”…

Supply chains crippled by the COVID pandemic lockdown haven’t recovered. Food costs – especially for proteins like chicken, beef and seafood – are up 30 to 40 percent over the last 36 months. Worst of all for the restaurant industry – customers haven’t returned from the shutdowns.

Meanwhile, a lot more Americans are working from home these days, and so there is a lot less foot traffic for restaurants that are located in our core urban areas…

And while Americans rarely worked from their home prior to the pandemic, an estimated 22 millions employed adults (about 14 percent of the workforce) haven’t returned to the office, according to Pew Research Center.

That means fewer people are going out to lunch or meeting colleagues for dinner after work.

This has been devastating to businesses that invested in brick-and-mortar locations. Eateries in urban locations have been hit especially hard as their expensive locations are no longer receiving the footfall they need to meet rent.

On top of everything else, California and other blue states have been changing minimum wage laws…

Indeed, the restaurant industry’s struggles are most pronounced in deep-blue California – where Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom has turned the not-so-Golden State into the closest American facsimile to Venezuela.

Newsom signed a law in September jacking up the minimum wage for fast-food workers from $16-per-hour to $20 – making decades-old businesses unprofitable overnight.

One California trade group estimated the Maduro-style edict led to the firing of nearly 10,000 workers even before the law went into effect on April 1.

Last month I wrote about the “restaurant apocalypse” that is sweeping across America, and unfortunately conditions are not going to improve for America’s restaurants any time soon.

So if you have a favorite restaurant, you may want to visit it while you still can.

We really have reached an economic tipping point, and the months ahead are going to be filled with uncertainty.

I believe that the economy is going to steadily deteriorate as we get closer to the election.

Needless to say, that is good news for Donald Trump and bad news for Joe Biden.

But whoever wins is going to have a colossal mess on their hands.

It has taken decades of incredibly bad decisions to get us to this point, and our economic future looks incredibly bleak indeed.

Michael’s new book entitled “Chaos” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

About the Author: Michael Snyder’s extremely controversial new book entitled “Chaos” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com. He has also written seven other books that are available on Amazon.com including “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”.  When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing.  You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter.  Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

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Michael Snyder is the publisher of The Economic Collapse Blog, The American Dream Blog and The Truth. You can follow him on Twitter right here.