The Week Behind
It's been a difficult week. One where I have been wrestling with the outcome of the election, struggling to understand how a majority of people could vote to put a man of such low moral character, someone who denigrates and demeans any human being (women, Veterans, disabled, people of color, etc.) that doesn't meet his image of the strong man, back into the office of our country's president. There are many reasons why people voted the way they did. I've decided to focus on one of these reasons for today's post.
For many people, they were willing to overlook whether or not they like the candidate, if they felt that candidate would address and improve the issues they saw as important. We knew all along that the strength of our economy was a primary concern with many citizens believing our economy was bad. Law professor and legal analyst, Joyce Vance wrote about the reality of this election in her Civil Discourse post on November 8, 2024, where she says, "It wasn't the economy, it was the disinformation about the economy." The disinformation successfully led voters across the country to believe they were worse off, despite reports from news outlets and other organizations that we have the best economy in the world, and have had an impressive post-pandemic recovery.
Yes, inflation has been up these last four years in the United States and across the world. In the time right after the pandemic, disruptions to supply chains were a main cause of inflation worldwide while, more recently, supply constraints in the U.S. housing market have been a factor. While inflation is still a concern, it is significantly less than a few years ago, and something we have addressed quite well in the United Stated. Our U.S. recovery from the pandemic has been impressive because our policymakers used knowledge from past recessions to adjust our response. An October 17, 2024, report from the Brookings Institution explains U.S. policymakers opted for generous counter-cyclical support, including massive relief bills, which helped us to recover so quickly. Participation in the U.S. labor force has risen to record highs, the elevated inflation in 2021 and 2022 abated quickly, and year-over-year inflation now stands at just 1.1%. The report authors note our successful post-COVID recovery reaffirms the difficult choices made by policymakers and ultimately vindicates U.S. policy choices.
When President Biden took office in 2021, we were a nation of people who were, quite frankly, stressed out and exhausted. He worked quickly to continue and expand pandemic recovery efforts, to include successfully negotiating and passing the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the CHIPS and Science Act, both which were designed to stimulate our economy and support all U.S. citizens and, by all accounts, have been successful. An AP News article from November 9 states, "Trump is inheriting an economy that, despite frustratingly high prices, looks fundamentally strong. Growth came in at a healthy 2.8% annual rate from July through September. And unemployment is 4.1% — quite low by historic standards."
I hope Trump recognizes the current strength of our economy and continues to improve it for all citizens. I am concerned his administration will do everything they can to make improvements for the wealthiest, while low and middle income households suffer. I hope I am wrong - time will tell.
From my wondering mind to yours,
Mary
Sources:
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-us-recovery-from-covid-19-in-international-comparison/
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/covid-19-inflation-was-a-supply-shock/
https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/09/politics/chips-semiconductor-manufacturing-science-act/index.html