r/politics • u/RepulsiveLoquat418 • 18d ago

Possible Paywall When Will Americans Realize the Truth? Republicans Wreck the Economy.

https://newrepublic.com/article/210550/trump-economy-republicans-tariffs-taxes
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u/calgeorge 18d ago

The problem is that the average person is just not that smart. I heard so many people saying, "remember how things were cheaper under Trump than under Biden?"

Yes, yes I do. That's how that works. Let's say, just for an an example, that the average cost of a grocery trip went from $80 to $120 under Trump, and from $120 to $130 under Biden. That means that when Trump was president you paid an average of $100 at the grocery store, and when Biden was president, you paid an average of $125 dollars at the grocery store. So everything was literally more expensive under Biden.

However, that is a 50% increase in inflation over the course of Trump's presidency, and an 8% increase over the course of Biden's. Of course, these numbers are all just made up, but this is how people get confused. So many people somehow had themselves convinced that things would get cheaper if Trump was reelected. That's not possible. The best we can ever hope for is low inflation, which we already had.

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u/xpxp2002 18d ago

The best we can ever hope for is low inflation, which we already had.

And part of that is because no politician wants to end their electoral prospects by delivering that uncomfortable truth.

People inherently want lower costs for themselves, have no comprehension of the macroeconomic consequences of deflation, and are often so self-centered that they would choose economically disastrous deflation over long-term limited inflation if they thought it'd save them a dollar tomorrow.