IT’S THE ECONOMY STUPID

“The economy stupid” phrase was first coined by James Carville in 1992, while he was Bill Clinton’s strategist.  It was true then as it was true in the most recent election.  Democrats might be stupefied that the current economy was a factor when looked at through the traditional lens of professional economists.  The reality is that there are all those fancy numbers, charts, studies, analyses, and formulas that consider unemployment, stock market trends, building permits, consumer expectations, credit indexes, etc., but those things don’t matter to the average voter.  A rosy stock market doesn’t matter to those who don’t participate.

The most important economic factor is perception.  Your perception changes depending on whether or not you are looking up or looking down.  Those in the stock market with investment portfolios have a totally different perspective than others who gauge the economy on their perceived position in the overall economy.  If they see that some people are doing much better than they are doing, the fact that they have enough to eat, a roof over their heads, etc., isn’t as important as the fact that they could be doing much better.

With years of forced income inequality, the wealth gap has become a chasm.  Low wages, union limitations, right-to-work laws, and limited educational opportunities, combined with monopolistic price gouging for consumer goods, food, and fuel all lead to a continuing perception of a poor economy.  People in this situation will always be looking for a change. 

Many believe that the government is wholly responsible for all their perceived financial ills.  The reality is that they are only partly right.  Human greed and political corruption are the prime culprits and changing government leaders without holding them accountable for corruption will never solve the problem.  When Supreme Court judges can be wined and dined by billionaires and government leaders are wholly reliant on deep-pocket donors for their continued employment, we can expect public corruption to continue.