The spike in prices under Biden was mitigated by an equal spike in wages. That doesn't appear to be happening now. And anecdotally, the lower working class people I encounter have had enough of Trump. Their lives my not be substantially worse than before, but they sure aren't any better, and the near future prospects appear dim.
I don't know how many times I can keep beating this same drum. Nearly 40% of American adults have zero invested in the market. Nearly 30% have no savings at all, and another 40% on top of that have savings, but less than $1000. One-third of American households don't own their home, and 60% of those who do don't own it free and clear. Fancy metrics don't matter to these people. Economic indicators don't matter to these people. The numbers they see when the fill up their gas tank or buy a loaf of bread, they matter.
I’m not sure there is much Trump can do about Americans being poor savers and managers of money.
As to @unclemark absurd claim. Real wages have grown more under Trump by any metric. I’m not what hell he thinks he’s talking about.
Snarl said, “first year.” Might be right with that chosen date range. Gas average price nationwide on 20 January 2025 was $3.10 and it was $2.81 a year later on 20 January 2026. However, it’s $3.98 today. Technically he didn’t lie, but is he a liar? 😉@snarlcakes those numbers are completely false. Why do you insist on posting fake shit?
The spike in prices under Biden was mitigated by an equal spike in wages. That doesn't appear to be happening now. And anecdotally, the lower working class people I encounter have had enough of Trump. Their lives my not be substantially worse than before, but they sure aren't any better, and the near future prospects appear dim.
I don't know how many times I can keep beating this same drum. Nearly 40% of American adults have zero invested in the market. Nearly 30% have no savings at all, and another 40% on top of that have savings, but less than $1000. One-third of American households don't own their home, and 60% of those who do don't own it free and clear. Fancy metrics don't matter to these people. Economic indicators don't matter to these people. The numbers they see when the fill up their gas tank or buy a loaf of bread, they matter.
I’m not sure there is much Trump can do about Americans being poor savers and managers of money.
As to @unclemark absurd claim. Real wages have grown more under Trump by any metric. I’m not what hell he thinks he’s talking about.
While average is going up, it is because high wage earners are rocketing up. From Google AI:
- Diverging Fortunes: Data suggests wage growth for the top income quartile has held up better, declining less than that of the lowest-income quartile.
- Real Wage Decline: While nominal wages for the bottom 10% surged in 2020-2022, recent inflationary pressures have caused real wage growth for lower-income groups to underperform relative to previous pandemic-era gains, with some estimates showing a decline to 1.5% annually.
- Industry Disparity: The "upper stroke" of the K features higher earners in sectors like finance and professional services, while the "lower stroke" affects industries with more part-time or lower-paid workers, often hit hard by rising cost of living.
- Persistent Trends: Despite some periods of catching up by low earners, the K-shape has returned, with expectations that this, according to Bank of America and Business Insider, it will remain through 2026, causing widening inequality.
Bureau of Labor Statistics (.gov) +4
- Wages vs. Costs: According to a Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland report, real hourly wages for the bottom half of the distribution remain below pre-pandemic trend lines.
- Spending Impact: As reported by NPR, lower-income consumers are cutting back on discretionary spending due to high costs, whereas top earners continue spending, further reinforcing the K-shape in the broader economy.
- Overall Average: According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) as of Feb 2026, total real average hourly earnings increased 1.4 percent over the previous 12 months, but this average masks the significant disparity between income groups.
NPR +4
Deep down, in your heart of hearts, do you have relative certainty that Trump raped a young girl? You just don’t want to care for selfish financial reasons related to your bitcoins?
Tell the truth.
@thehoosierhuddle I'm pretty cool with most things, but the pedo shit crosses the line. Trying to be respectful and not be an a#% on your website. I appreciate it if you tell Lurker to knock it off.
@arthur-dent put another way. Purchasing power is going up for both high and low income earners. When it was down for both during Biden.
Don’t obfuscate, it’s pathetic.
@snarlcakes those numbers are completely false. Why do you insist on posting fake shit?
The first tweet or second one? It says 1st year on the second one.
@carramrod if that is true, look up "are you better off today than a year ago" and look up the Conference Board survey of consumer confidence. If everyone is doing better, why did the December 2024 Gallup poll show most Americans saying they are worse off than a year ago and the March Confidence survey sucked. Why is the "right direction" "wrong direction" question heavily skewed wrong.
Americans are saying there is a real problem, not that there was 3 years ago. Are the masses just wrong?
@arthur-dent in short, yes the masses are wrong. Not that I would campaign on that were I running for office.
Affordability is really nebulous. I rarely look at my grocery bill or really any bill and think “Wow, how affordable”.
But Trump campaigned on bringing prices “down” so he’s a victim of his own talking points to an extent.
I also don’t entertain discussion about a “K-Shaped” economy. The largest driver of the “K-Shape” is that a larger proportion of Americans have been entering the upper middle class and upper class for decades now. And such a talking point completely disregards income mobility, the U.S. is still quite mobile.
@carramrod if that is true, look up "are you better off today than a year ago" and look up the Conference Board survey of consumer confidence. If everyone is doing better, why did the December 2024 Gallup poll show most Americans saying they are worse off than a year ago and the March Confidence survey sucked. Why is the "right direction" "wrong direction" question heavily skewed wrong.
Americans are saying there is a real problem, not that there was 3 years ago. Are the masses just wrong?
They're half wrong and half right. They correct that their purchasing power has decreased since Covid overall. They're incorrect that it hasn't improved since Trump took office.
in addition to those who have discretionary funds and simply spend them without saving and making smart investments, we do have all too many households which live pay check to paycheck.The spike in prices under Biden was mitigated by an equal spike in wages. That doesn't appear to be happening now. And anecdotally, the lower working class people I encounter have had enough of Trump. Their lives my not be substantially worse than before, but they sure aren't any better, and the near future prospects appear dim.
I don't know how many times I can keep beating this same drum. Nearly 40% of American adults have zero invested in the market. Nearly 30% have no savings at all, and another 40% on top of that have savings, but less than $1000. One-third of American households don't own their home, and 60% of those who do don't own it free and clear. Fancy metrics don't matter to these people. Economic indicators don't matter to these people. The numbers they see when the fill up their gas tank or buy a loaf of bread, they matter.
I’m not sure there is much Trump can do about Americans being poor savers and managers of money.
As to @unclemark absurd claim. Real wages have grown more under Trump by any metric. I’m not what hell he thinks he’s talking about.
Lately the pay check to paycheck households are growing but the rate of growth has slowed. Could be the economy while Trump has been president did contribute to the rate slowing down.
@carramrod that's not at all what that said. What it says is real purchasing power is actually going down for the working class, because they aren't enjoying enough of the wage growth to keep up with inflation.
This is why you can't put too much stock in charts. Charts capture the big picture. But the big picture doesn't vote.
@carramrod that's not at all what that said. What it says is real purchasing power is actually going down for the working class, because they aren't enjoying enough of the wage growth to keep up with inflation.
This is why you can't put too much stock in charts. Charts capture the big picture. But the big picture doesn't vote.
I don’t think you’re reading it right, it’s saying real wages are up for low income just not as much as high income. The point is moot, we don’t need to try to decipher the AI response because real wages for low income ARE up under Trump.
@carramrod that's not at all what that said. What it says is real purchasing power is actually going down for the working class, because they aren't enjoying enough of the wage growth to keep up with inflation.
This is why you can't put too much stock in charts. Charts capture the big picture. But the big picture doesn't vote.
I don’t think you’re reading it right, it’s saying real wages are up for low income just not as much as high income. The point is moot, we don’t need to try to decipher the AI response because real wages for low income ARE up under Trump.
Tell you what, you keep telling Americans they are wrong and the economy is great. See, look at all these charts! Worked great for the Dems last time around. I'm sure the voters will love it.
@goat I actually felt bad for Biden the last year of his admin. Real wages were increasing, things were trending positive, but you’re right that message didn’t resonate.
No one ever accused the American public of being economically literate. How someone “feels” is of little import to me.