> It’s that, for the most part, those living in more modest circumstances have endured at least 20 years of setbacks
Then they should have made up a new number that proves that point rather than making up a new number that seems to imply the opposite.
> In other words, the official statistics have been misleading for a very long time, misleading in the sense of not showing the true hardships of the economy on the voters.
There is a relevant official statistic: the poverty statistic.
Their proposed unemployment rate tracks the official rate fairly well; the difference is that their rate is a lot higher than the official rate at almost every point in time over the past 30 years.
The author also notes that the rates can vary significantly by circumstances, such as geographical location, race, and educational attainment. Increasingly, in recent times, the Democrat/Republican voter divide is becoming a college degreed/non-degreed divide.
It's the author's argument. I'm just trying to interpret it correctly.
> X + Y is generally higher than just X, yes.
The author's point is that their rate, the higher rate, is a better reflection of how the voters are doing economically and explains why their perception of the economy can be very different than the perception of many leaders in Washington, who are puzzled about why the voters are upset.
>The author's point is that their rate, the higher rate, is a better reflection of how the voters are doing economically and explains why their perception of the economy can be very different than the perception of many leaders in Washington, who are puzzled about why the voters are upset.
Right, but that doesn't explain why voters are suddenly mad now. American consumer sentiment has deviated from "fundamentals" since the pandemic[1].
Who says they're suddenly mad now? The voters have thrown out two incumbent Presidents in a row and switched political parties three Presidential elections in a row.
Unfortunately for them, there's a political duopoly.
Then they should have made up a new number that proves that point rather than making up a new number that seems to imply the opposite.
> In other words, the official statistics have been misleading for a very long time, misleading in the sense of not showing the true hardships of the economy on the voters.
There is a relevant official statistic: the poverty statistic.