Biden Tracker (2 Viewers)

[Farb]

For all the things related to the Biden/Harris Administration and their latest hits and misses

https://www.dailywire.com/news/whit...gedly-sexually-harassing-threatening-reporter

Interesting story, looks like 'only the best people' didn't stop with the new administration.

 

[MT15]

according to Money, all around personal debt is way down. I would suggest that credit card debt is a lagging indicator for economic health.

“Americans have less personal debt than they did before the pandemic, according to data collected earlier this year showing the average adult owes a little under $22,000.

Research from financial services company Northwestern Mutual found that excluding mortgages, the average personal debt per individual currently sits at $21,800, significantly lower than the $29,800 recorded in 2019.”

Here’s How Much Debt the Average American Has

Excluding mortgages, the most common source of debt comes from credit cards.

money.com

 

[Neworleansfan]

according to Money, all around personal debt is way down. I would suggest that credit card debt is a lagging indicator for economic health.

“Americans have less personal debt than they did before the pandemic, according to data collected earlier this year showing the average adult owes a little under $22,000.

Research from financial services company Northwestern Mutual found that excluding mortgages, the average personal debt per individual currently sits at $21,800, significantly lower than the $29,800 recorded in 2019.”

Here’s How Much Debt the Average American Has

Excluding mortgages, the most common source of debt comes from credit cards.

money.com

There is a disconnection between personal debt as reported by the poll and household debt from the Fed data in that article. While household debt is at the highest ever, personal debt is down. It would be interesting to see a breakdown of who took the poll?

 

[MT15]

There is a disconnection between personal debt as reported by the poll and household debt from the Fed data in that article. While household debt is at the highest ever, personal debt is down. It would be interesting to see a breakdown of who took the poll?

The Money article says their data excludes mortgage debt. I wonder if that is the difference?

 

[Neworleansfan]

The Money article says their data excludes mortgage debt. I wonder if that is the difference?

Could be. Also noticed credit card debt is also at all time high. Maybe other debts are going down since people decided against buying cars and taking HELOCs because the interest rate is too high. Education loans debt may also be down because Biden’s administration makes it a lot easier to qualify for forgiveness and reduced payment for those who qualify.

 

[MT15]

When people say credit card debt is at an all-time high, is that measured as a percentage of debt or are they talking actual dollars? If it’s a percentage, it’s not necessarily significant.

 

[DaveXA]

The Money article says their data excludes mortgage debt. I wonder if that is the difference?

I don't know if that's the difference, but mortgages make all the difference in whether you're managing financially or not. In my case, my mortgage eats up over half of my income from work. I have zero disposable income. I'm not the only one in that position. I can't move unless I pay some stupid amount of rent. So I'm landlocked until mortgage rates return to sub 4%. And my expenses have been increasing at a faster rate than my salary. My buying power is lower now than last year and the year before that. I don't know if it catches up this year. We'll see.

 

[Neworleansfan]

When people say credit card debt is at an all-time high, is that measured as a percentage of debt or are they talking actual dollars? If it’s a percentage, it’s not necessarily significant.

They’re talking about actual dollars in the article.

 

[bird]

When people say credit card debt is at an all-time high, is that measured as a percentage of debt or are they talking actual dollars? If it’s a percentage, it’s not necessarily significant.

Credit card debt vs wages adding in prices is a problem. The end result, imo, is a two-tier society. Jeffrey Faux’s book Servant Economy discusses this two-tier system.

 

[LA - L.A.]

The Money article says their data excludes mortgage debt. I wonder if that is the difference?

I know that during the pandemic a lot of people in the upper wealth brackets had significant boosts to their income which they used to pay off massive amounts of personal debt. The reduction of those massive amount of debts by a relatively fewer number of people would skew the average individual debt downwards.

So it's possible for the average individual debt to go down while most people's debts go up.

 

[coldseat]

I don't know if that's the difference, but mortgages make all the difference in whether you're managing financially or not. In my case, my mortgage eats up over half of my income from work. I have zero disposable income. I'm not the only one in that position. I can't move unless I pay some stupid amount of rent. So I'm landlocked until mortgage rates return to sub 4%. And my expenses have been increasing at a faster rate than my salary. My buying power is lower now than last year and the year before that. I don't know if it catches up this year. We'll see.

I'm assuming you have a variable rate mortgage? I would think most people have a fixed rate mortgages, so unless they bought a house in the last two years when interest rates have been high, it shouldn't effect them at all. I was pretty lucky and bought my house with a fixed rate mortgage right before rates started to climb.

Rents are a different animal and those have certainly gone up. That likely effects the poor the most.

I do have a lot of credit card debt right now that's because I bought a house 2 years ago. Those climbing interest rates have effected my disposable income a good bit, but it's slowly starting to improve. I think a lot of people bought houses during the pandemic before inflation started to climb and may be in a similar boat as me.

 

[DaveXA]

I'm assuming you have a variable rate mortgage? I would think most people have a fixed rate mortgages, so unless they bought a house in the last two years when interest rates have been high, it shouldn't effect them at all. I was pretty lucky and bought my house with a fixed rate mortgage right before rates started to climb.

Rents are a different animal and those have certainly gone up. That likely effects the poor the most.

I do have a lot of credit card debt right now that's because I bought a house 2 years ago. Those climbing interest rates have effected my disposable income a good bit, but it's slowly starting to improve. I think a lot of people bought houses during the pandemic before inflation started to climb and may be in a similar boat as me.

No, mine is a fixed rate. I bought in 2021 shortly after the rates started ticking up just a bit. Went up quicker after we bought. My rate was/is under 4%. There's no good way for me to move now if I wanted to unless I go back to renting and downsize...a lot. The rates going up as much as it has means I can't get out of my current home. My monthly payments with the current rates would eat up 2/3s of my current paycheck, if not more.

Only way I could move is if I took over someone's mortgage at a rate around what mine is now. Not an easy find.

 

[BullSheetBuddha]

I know that during the pandemic a lot of people in the upper wealth brackets had significant boosts to their income which they used to pay off massive amounts of personal debt. The reduction of those massive amount of debts by a relatively fewer number of people would skew the average individual debt downwards.

So it's possible for the average individual debt to go down while most people's debts go up.

Despite hating the economy, the typical American became 30% wealthier during the pandemic

The typical American household saw its net worth increase from $128,200 to $166,900 between 2019 and 2021.

finance.yahoo.com

Despite hating the economy, the typical American became 30% wealthier during the pandemic​

Mon, December 4, 2023, 11:43 AM EST


The typical American household grew significantly richer during the coronavirus pandemic, with their net worths increasing by 30% between 2019 and 2021, according to a new analysis from the Pew Research Center. But while the wealthiest households saw their bottom lines surge in value, poorer households did not see the same gains.

Pew's report is based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020, 2021, and 2022 Surveys of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), which collects information on the financial and demographic characteristics of households across the country. It takes into account assets like stocks, bonds, homes, vehicles, retirement accounts, et cetera, as well as debt like credit card balances, mortgages, and student loans.

The richest households in the U.S., defined by Pew as the top 25% of the wealth distribution, added the most wealth in that three-year period, gaining over $170,000 to their net worths, at the median. These Americans—which do not include the wealthiest 1%, who were excluded from Pew's analysis—held 82% of the country's wealth in 2021.

At the same time, the poorest Americans, those in the bottom 25% of the wealth distribution, were more likely to be in debt in 2019 and in 2021. Half of these households had a net worth of $500 or less in 2021.

View this interactive chart on Fortune.com

That's an improvement over 2019, when half of these households had a net worth of less than $0.

 

[LA - L.A.]

Despite hating the economy, the typical American became 30% wealthier during the pandemic

The typical American household saw its net worth increase from $128,200 to $166,900 between 2019 and 2021.

finance.yahoo.com

Despite hating the economy, the typical American became 30% wealthier during the pandemic​

Mon, December 4, 2023, 11:43 AM EST


The typical American household grew significantly richer during the coronavirus pandemic, with their net worths increasing by 30% between 2019 and 2021, according to a new analysis from the Pew Research Center. But while the wealthiest households saw their bottom lines surge in value, poorer households did not see the same gains.

Pew's report is based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020, 2021, and 2022 Surveys of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), which collects information on the financial and demographic characteristics of households across the country. It takes into account assets like stocks, bonds, homes, vehicles, retirement accounts, et cetera, as well as debt like credit card balances, mortgages, and student loans.

The richest households in the U.S., defined by Pew as the top 25% of the wealth distribution, added the most wealth in that three-year period, gaining over $170,000 to their net worths, at the median. These Americans—which do not include the wealthiest 1%, who were excluded from Pew's analysis—held 82% of the country's wealth in 2021.

At the same time, the poorest Americans, those in the bottom 25% of the wealth distribution, were more likely to be in debt in 2019 and in 2021. Half of these households had a net worth of $500 or less in 2021.

View this interactive chart on Fortune.com

That's an improvement over 2019, when half of these households had a net worth of less than $0.

From the same article.

Pew notes that from 2019 to 2021, incomes actually fell in the U.S. relative to inflation. But there are enough other factors at play that many households are still better off than they were.

From the same article:

For one, generous economic impact payments, unemployment benefits, childcare credits, and other pandemic-induced stimulus efforts helped many families across the country, even reducing the poverty rate. Many families were able to save significant amounts of money, to the tune of an extra $2.3 trillion during 2020 and the first half of 2021 (that said, Americans have been spending down that excess savings in the time since).

Those limited time payments look good when looking at a statistical snap shot of the time period they were given in, but they don't have a lasting impact. This is 2023 not 2021. Things have taken a downward turn for most people since 2021.

And then there are home prices. These have skyrocketed over the past few years, which, in hand, helps wealthier families who are more likely to own than rent.

As Pew noted, many of those trends have reversed since 2021. After-tax income has fallen, households are spending their excess savings, and while housing gains are still growing, they are not doing so at the same rate.

All of that could play into why many Americans have consistently reported that things are not going that well, despite all the official accounts to the contrary.

Things have gotten financially worse for most Americans since 2021, but most Americans are being told "you're wrong things have gotten better for you, just look at this data from 2019 to 2021."

Since 2021, most Americans have seen their real income go down and credit card debt go up. Additionally, the poverty rate has increased again.

New Census data shows why Americans hate the economy despite economists telling us to feel good about it

Americans' incomes fell for the third year in a row.

fortune.com

Telling people that they are doing well financially when they know they for a fact they are actually struggling is a formula for losing an election. This is one of the things I don't like about Biden. For all the talk about him having empathy for people, he has a long history of telling people they are not suffering the hardships they know they are suffering. It's arrogant, just like his arrogance to think that he is the only person that can defeat Trump in an election.

 

[Neworleansfan]

Despite hating the economy, the typical American became 30% wealthier during the pandemic

The typical American household saw its net worth increase from $128,200 to $166,900 between 2019 and 2021.

finance.yahoo.com

Despite hating the economy, the typical American became 30% wealthier during the pandemic​

Mon, December 4, 2023, 11:43 AM EST


The typical American household grew significantly richer during the coronavirus pandemic, with their net worths increasing by 30% between 2019 and 2021, according to a new analysis from the Pew Research Center. But while the wealthiest households saw their bottom lines surge in value, poorer households did not see the same gains.

Pew's report is based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020, 2021, and 2022 Surveys of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), which collects information on the financial and demographic characteristics of households across the country. It takes into account assets like stocks, bonds, homes, vehicles, retirement accounts, et cetera, as well as debt like credit card balances, mortgages, and student loans.

The richest households in the U.S., defined by Pew as the top 25% of the wealth distribution, added the most wealth in that three-year period, gaining over $170,000 to their net worths, at the median. These Americans—which do not include the wealthiest 1%, who were excluded from Pew's analysis—held 82% of the country's wealth in 2021.

At the same time, the poorest Americans, those in the bottom 25% of the wealth distribution, were more likely to be in debt in 2019 and in 2021. Half of these households had a net worth of $500 or less in 2021.

View this interactive chart on Fortune.com

That's an improvement over 2019, when half of these households had a net worth of less than $0.

The article only mentions about the period between 2019-2021. There have been a lot of changes since the end of 2021 til now. Top one is inflation increased around 8% from 2021 - 2022. Another one is the government stopped Covid stimulus checks in March of 2021. Fed had been raising interest rate to curb inflation so household credit card debts have become more expensive. The stock market which was at all time high by the end of 2021 has tumbled and just now getting closer to that level. companies demanded their employees returned the office so the saving that employees would get by working from home was not available anymore.
Household wealth in general are nowhere near as good as the end of 2021

 

[Neworleansfan]

From the same article.



From the same article:

Those limited time payments look good when looking at a statistical snap shot of the time period they were given in, but they don't have a lasting impact. This is 2023 not 2021. Things have taken a downward turn for most people since 2021.


Things have gotten financially worse for most Americans since 2021, but most Americans are being told "you're wrong things have gotten better for you, just look at this data from 2019 to 2021."

Since 2021, most Americans have seen their real income go down and credit card debt go up. Additionally, the poverty rate has increased again.

New Census data shows why Americans hate the economy despite economists telling us to feel good about it

Americans' incomes fell for the third year in a row.

fortune.com

Telling people that they are doing well financially when they know they for a fact they are actually struggling is a formula for losing an election. This is one of the things I don't like about Biden. For all the talk about him having empathy for people, he has a long history of telling people they are not suffering the hardships they know they are suffering. It's arrogant, just like his arrogance to think that he is the only person that can defeat Trump in an election.

Perfectly stated.

 

[brandon]

I just checked my own net worth tracker. Because they have a weird 2 year increment in the article, I decided to break it down year over year to see what was actually gained.

I gained 4% from January 2019-December 2019. Nothing special.

I gained 37% from January 2020-December 2020. That’s huge.

I gained 27% from January 2021-December 2021. Still pretty huge.

I gained 12% from January 2022-December 2022. Respectable.

I gained 13% from January 2023 till today.

So for me, there was definitely a huge jump in the 2020-2022 time period, and there has been a slowdown (but definitely still respectable growth) in 2022-2023. All in, my total increase from January 2019 to today has been 129%.

During the article’s timespan where it says the average household got 30% wealthier, our household actually became 86% wealthier. So there’s definitely something there.

Realistically, a huge driver of the gains I made over 2020-2021 were increases in my home’s value, which has cooled off since. If that were taken out, then I don’t know that much has actually changed since 2021, other than inflation.

I’m not mad.

 

[DaveXA]

I just checked my own net worth tracker. Because they have a weird 2 year increment in the article, I decided to break it down year over year to see what was actually gained.

I gained 4% from January 2019-December 2019. Nothing special.

I gained 37% from January 2020-December 2020. That’s huge.

I gained 27% from January 2021-December 2021. Still pretty huge.

I gained 12% from January 2022-December 2022. Respectable.

I gained 13% from January 2023 till today.

So for me, there was definitely a huge jump in the 2020-2022 time period, and there has been a slowdown (but definitely still respectable growth) in 2022-2023. All in, my total increase from January 2019 to today has been 129%.

During the article’s timespan where it says the average household got 30% wealthier, our household actually became 86% wealthier. So there’s definitely something there.

Realistically, a huge driver of the gains I made over 2020-2021 were increases in my home’s value, which has cooled off since. If that were taken out, then I don’t know that much has actually changed since 2021, other than inflation.

I’m not mad.

Idk, what matters is earnings vs expenses. Net worth is irrelevant because until you sell the house to realize the gain, you haven't gained anything. My earnings has increased by about 12% since 2019 and my expenses have increased by close to 20% if not more. So, effectively, I'm making less now than I was in 2019.

This is probably the case for most people.

 

[UriUT]

I’m trying to process the message here. Are folks saying Biden is responsible for how bad folks are feeling about the economy despite the usual macroeconomic indicators are positive?

Reminds me of the Obama years when despite good indicators he is continually attacked with basically the same numbers that trump inherited, and trump rode that despite not passing a damn policy. That is till he passed a 2 trillion dollar tax cuts for corps and the 1%. I mean, the trickled down when that money went right into stock buy backs right? The funniest criticism against Obama was that those unemployment (coming out of the worst recession since the Great Depression) was because people were not looking for jobs. Therefore good unemployment numbers were myths. But once trump came in, “hey look, low unemployment”.

Also, remember how trump always used the stock market as an indicator of macroeconomic health? Yeah there’s a reason why.