Today I had to look-up the word "vibecession." I came across it while reading the front-page Globe article about how people are feeling more isolated and uncertain in these post-pandemic times.
It combines "vibe" and "recession" to describe a situation where people feel like the economy is in a downturn, even though the economic indicators are positive. It's all about the mood and perception rather than the actual economic data.
It helps explain why the Dems lost the election. The pro-Trumpers simply ignored the data and kept harping on the price of eggs and butter as proof of Biden's failure to put a lid on inflation.
It worked.
1 comment:
The data is not indicative of how folks in the lower tiers of earnings are doing economically. Like the old example of how statistics can give a distorted view: Elon Musk walks into a bar filled with day laborers and suddenly the average patron is worth a $1B each. In this case, though inflation is down, prices aren't (that would require disinflation -- not a good event). Though wages are up slightly, they're not evenly distributed, so many are still feeling the pinch of high food prices as well as soaring rents and home prices, exacerbated by borrowing costs that remain high. True, Trump's policies won't fix any of this -- likely make them worse -- but desperate people often bet on a long shot to gain hope for relief. In this case, the Trumpian nag will probably break a leg before the first turn.
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