Is anyone telling the truth?

“If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” “Is there life after death?”

“If the POTUS says the economy is great but no one feels it, is it really a recovery?”

I’ll leave the first two for philosophy majors. On the third question, I have some thoughts.

The administration is touting what it calls, “Bidenomics.” Much like Obama chose to own “Obamacare” and turn it into a positive, President Joe Biden is owning the U.S. economy and making it the centerpiece of his re-election campaign. Will it work? Depends.

This week’s episode is a deep(ish) dive into U.S. economic data. The U.S. might be doing better than the rest of the world. Inflation is cooling and people are working. But Americans are also racking up debt, getting priced out of the housing market, depleting their savings and are wholly uncertain about the future. Come election time, it will still be all about the economy, but it won’t be about the numbers. It will be about sentiment.