Kevin Hassett, Donald J. Trump’s director of the National Economic Council, has a rather unusual way of measuring whether Americans are happy with the economy: If people are still taking vacations and buying cars, we must be in a boom.
Speaking on CNBC, Hassett dismissed economic polling that suggests Americans aren’t feeling particularly good about the economy.
“If economic polls were correct, then people wouldn’t be taking trips to nice hotels, they wouldn’t be flying, they wouldn’t be buying cars, they wouldn’t be doing all the things they do when they’re feeling good about the economy,” Hassett said.
“People are acting like we’re in a boom. We are in a boom,” he insisted.`
Apparently, Hassett believes that people spending money is all the evidence he needs to declare economic victory. Never mind that spending money and feeling financially secure are two very different things.
In fact, the latest numbers suggest there’s a considerable disconnect between consumer patterns and consumer confidence. The University of Michigan’s preliminary October survey found that consumer sentiment fell to 46.3, down from 48.1 in September and 53.6 a year earlier. The index measuring current economic conditions plunged to 44.7, its lowest level in the survey’s history at that point.
Meanwhile, inflation climbed to 3.7 percent over the 12 months ending in September, with gasoline prices adding to the increase.
Consumers can keep spending even when they’re worried about rising prices. A hotel reservation doesn’t tell us whether someone is struggling to pay their bills, just as buying a car doesn’t reveal how much debt they’re taking on to afford it.
Hassett may see people spending money and conclude that everything is going swimmingly. But declaring a boom doesn’t make Americans feel any better about the cost of living.
If the administration wants to convince people that the economy is working for them, it might begin by addressing the monetary burdens they’re actually experiencing instead of telling them how wonderful things must be. And the president should show concern for struggling Americans instead of, you know, a golf course.
And it’s the wealthy people who are spending, Kevin. Millionaires like you aren’t hurting financially. And billionaires like Trump are profiting from this shitshow.
