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[MrRoboto75]

It's worth noting that Trump's approval rating is only so high because the economy has been doing so well. Presidential approval and economic strength are quite strongly related; that Trump's approval is so low despite this economy is a testament to how disliked he is overall.

Outside of stock market numbers, the economy is pretty shit though.

[Telgin]

He's been hurting the stock market lately too.  I expect that to cause some loss in enthusiasm and confidence from the wealthy conservatives that support him, but how much they matter is probably up for debate.  They donate to political campaigns, but by now Trump is too much of a household name for their loss of support to matter.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

Interesting article on the true motives of the pro-birth movement.

[Teneb]

It's worth noting that Trump's approval rating is only so high because the economy has been doing so well. Presidential approval and economic strength are quite strongly related; that Trump's approval is so low despite this economy is a testament to how disliked he is overall.

Outside of stock market numbers, the economy is pretty shit though.

Stock markets are the only part of the economy the ultra-rich really care about anyway.

[Pwnzerfaust]

It's worth noting that Trump's approval rating is only so high because the economy has been doing so well. Presidential approval and economic strength are quite strongly related; that Trump's approval is so low despite this economy is a testament to how disliked he is overall.

Outside of stock market numbers, the economy is pretty shit though.

The US's unemployment rate is one of the lowest in the world, at about 3.8% as of March 2019.

At about 2.8% per annum, the US's GDP growth is one of the highest in the developed world.

Real wages growth is slow, but moving in a positive direction for now.

How's the economy shit, exactly?

[Zangi]

Unemployment rate conveniently removes people who have given up getting a job.  Is pretty great for making the numbers look good.

[Pwnzerfaust]

Even the U6 rate is only 7.3%, which still is far on the lower end of the spectrum if similar metrics are applied to other countries as well.

[McTraveller]

Interesting article on the true motives of the pro-birth movement.

That article reeks of the absolutism it is claiming is bad, whichever side of the issue you support.

[EnigmaticHat]

The US has an underemployment problem... just because you have a job here doesn't mean it pays for anything.

As for the economy in general being shit, from what I understand its more complicated than that.  The economy is on an upturn right now but economists are warning of problems to come because of the trade war and the current policy on interest rates.

If by "the economy is shit" you mean "everything has gotten expensive and wages haven't gone up in years" then yes, it is.  Or "money is only flowing one way and eventually the economy will collapse when consumers have no purchasing power left" then yeah, also shit.  If you mean "things are worse than they were 5 years ago" no, no its not shit.

Interesting article on the true motives of the pro-birth movement.

Pretty much.  Although I don't think its about birth rates per se; the American economy has always been held up by immigrant labor and slave labor before it.  I think its more about the threat reproductive control would pose to the social order in red states.  The biggest threat to the religious fundamentalist political movement (and republicans in general) has always been white women.  Political participation and education both require time; if you're having a new kid every couple years you cease to exist as a political agent.  On top of that religious fundamentalists have openly been pushing for over a decade that Christianity and Islam are in a war to outbreed each other; although in reality I suspect its the house of reps that they really care about.  Birth rates have always been their plan to stay relevant against larger democratic membership and the influx of dem-favoring immigrants.  Its not working (they don't even control Republicans since 2016) but that's not going to stop them from trying.

[Pwnzerfaust]

The US has an underemployment problem... just because you have a job here doesn't mean it pays for anything.

As for the economy in general being shit, from what I understand its more complicated than that.  The economy is on an upturn right now but economists are warning of problems to come because of the trade war and the current policy on interest rates.

If by "the economy is shit" you mean "everything has gotten expensive and wages haven't gone up in years" then yes, it is.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the consumer price index (a consolidated measurement of costs for consumer goods, essentially a way to measure the inflation felt by the average consumer) has risen at an average of 2.185% per annum for the last 20 years (with the range varying from -0.4% to 3.8%). (source)

Wages, by contrast, have on average grown at a rate of about 5% per annum over the same period, which implies wage increases outstripping price increases. (source)

Now I'll put in the caveat here that this includes the frankly ridiculous increases in earnings of the country's top earners. Median income has been largely stagnant, when compared to inflation. (source)

Or "money is only flowing one way and eventually the economy will collapse when consumers have no purchasing power left" then yeah, also shit.

I'll agree that wealth is flowing upward and that's a crisis that needs to be dealt with. However, over the past twenty years, median [EDIT:] real income has not declined but rather remained roughly stagnant. It's not that purchasing power is reducing. It's more that it's stayed the same, and in our society, stagnation often feels like regression.

If you mean "things are worse than they were 5 years ago" no, no its not shit.

No argument here.

[Iduno]

Real wages growth is slow, but moving in a positive direction for now.

Obvious troll is obvious.

[Urist McScoopbeard]

For the record,

Neither a strong economy, a growing stock market/growing # of industries & jobs, nor actually having a job correlates to a higher quality of life.

I would say, in many respects, it is preferable for a young person to be unemployed right now, to either live off the state or their families until they can get a job that pays them a livable wage or just keep going back to college if they can afford it until they appear more employable.

Getting people minimum wage jobs just creates pseudo-slaves with more problems and responsibilities then before. They still cost the state money too, as often they DONT HAVE LIVABLE WAGES.

I know its cliche, but the whole rich get richer and the poor get poorer thing is real. Large corporations, investors, and shareholders have to be limited in how much of a company's revenue they can collect. If the majority of the profit from an employee's work/value is not given back to them, then this is basically corporate feudalism.

Fuck efficiency or growth through the concentration of wealth, give people their lives back. TBH, I'd gladly give up most of today's modern amenities and securities for more time and space to just exist without expectation.

[SalmonGod]

Real wages growth is slow, but moving in a positive direction for now.

Obvious troll is obvious.

Yeah, I'd like to know what qualifies as a bad economy.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

A bad economy is when the cattle are happy. Once I had something said to me by a boss that really enunciated the whole thing: "We need to get everything we can out of you guys." Accidental honesty.

[hector13]

I'll agree that wealth is flowing upward and that's a crisis that needs to be dealt with. However, over the past twenty years, median income has not declined but rather remained roughly stagnant. It's not that purchasing power is reducing. It's more that it's stayed the same, and in our society, stagnation often feels like regression.

You did just give us information that showed inflation increasing 2% on average for the last two decades, so I'm not sure you can get away with saying purchasing power isn't reducing if wages aren't increasing alongside it.