http://theweek.com/articles/760439/not-economy-stupid
People are keenly aware that "the economy" is more complicated than just jobs and growth. If a job doesn't come with benefits or security, you can have one and still not feel like the economy is serving you particularly well. We just watched public school teachers in West Virginia stage a dramatic strike to get themselves a 5 percent raise, which at a median salary of $45,700 would mean a bump up to $47,985 — better, but still not nearly what they ought to be paid. With wages growing painfully slowly and inequality constantly increasing, it's hard for a few months or even years of job gains to convince everyone that we've entered a time of boundless prosperity.
And it's almost impossible to assess Donald Trump on the basis of any factor outside of Donald Trump. People might have been able to compartmentalize the Lewinsky matter, but every day in the Trump era features a half-dozen Lewinsky-level scandals. The president may have colluded with a hostile foreign power to get elected, he allegedly gave hush money to a porn star to cover up their affair, he's in an unending war with the news media, his staff is running for the hills, and each day we all wake up wondering what he's going to rage-tweet because of something he saw on Fox & Friends. In that reality it's awfully hard to say, "Sure, but what I'm focused on is durable goods orders for the second quarter."
People are keenly aware that "the economy" is more complicated than just jobs and growth. If a job doesn't come with benefits or security, you can have one and still not feel like the economy is serving you particularly well. We just watched public school teachers in West Virginia stage a dramatic strike to get themselves a 5 percent raise, which at a median salary of $45,700 would mean a bump up to $47,985 — better, but still not nearly what they ought to be paid. With wages growing painfully slowly and inequality constantly increasing, it's hard for a few months or even years of job gains to convince everyone that we've entered a time of boundless prosperity.
And it's almost impossible to assess Donald Trump on the basis of any factor outside of Donald Trump. People might have been able to compartmentalize the Lewinsky matter, but every day in the Trump era features a half-dozen Lewinsky-level scandals. The president may have colluded with a hostile foreign power to get elected, he allegedly gave hush money to a porn star to cover up their affair, he's in an unending war with the news media, his staff is running for the hills, and each day we all wake up wondering what he's going to rage-tweet because of something he saw on Fox & Friends. In that reality it's awfully hard to say, "Sure, but what I'm focused on is durable goods orders for the second quarter."
