It’s the Roaring ‘20s once more. That’s what The New York TimesAmericans live in a world where high gas prices and record-breaking inflation of 40 years are the norm.
“For Tens of Millions of Americans, the Good Times Are Right Now,” claimed the newspaper. Times technology writer David Streitfield pretended Americans haven’t seen an economy this glorious in over 50 years. “For the 158 million who are employed, prospects haven’t been this bright since men landed on the moon.”
Those prospects are so “bright” that CNN reported total compensation costs — which “includes the wages employers pay plus health, retirement and other benefits for civilian workers” — declined “3.7% over the past 12 months ending in March.” CNN summarized that news in one sentence: “Skyrocketing inflation is robbing Americans of their raises.”
But according to Streitfield, this era “has been a time of great financial reward for a large number of Americans.” He continued: “The boom is not celebrated enough.” It is ironic that this kind of absurdity was written by an out-of-touch writer who refers to himself in his Times bio as an “ink-stained wretch.” [Emphasis added.]
What he actually wrote was awful.
Oh, but Streitfield wasn’t done: “As many as half of those workers have retirement accounts that were fattened by a prolonged bull market in stocks. The United States has 83 million homes that are owned by owners. At the rate they have been increasing in value, a lot of them are in effect a giant piggy bank that families live inside.” It is unclear why Streitfield would puff about retirement accounts when the stock market took a steep nosedive yesterday that caused “My 401(k)” to reportedly trend all over Twitter.
Additionally, the 30-year average fixed rate mortgage just jumped to 5.5 per cent for its highest level in over a decade. Fannie Mae reports that consumer sentiment regarding housing fell to its lowest point in 2 years.
The national average gasoline price just jumped to $4.37 per gallon. But according to Streitfield, a volatile stock market, sky-high gas prices, interest rates and 40-year high inflation simply means that they “could” threaten the gains of recent years:
A slowing economy, increased inflation and a rising stock market could be signs that the boom may be ending. The gains made over the years could be undermined by a slowing economy and renewed inflation. This flood of wealth, however, is slowly redefining retirement. It’s helping to fuel Silicon Valley, and it’s triggering a boom for leisure and entertainment. This is helping to increase corporate profits in unprecedented ways, while giving people the possibility of a better job., [emphasis added].
“Queasy” was quite a euphemism for a stock market that reportedlyOnly $7.3 trillion was lost this year. Streitfield even praised how “More than 4.5 million workers voluntarily quit in March, the highest number since the government started keeping this statistic in 2000.” Here’s the problem: there were a record high 11.55 million job openings, and the gap between job openings and available workers was another record high 5.6 million, according to CNBC. Streitfield chose not to mention the grim reality: The labor shortage.
This year, the US Stock Market lost $7.3 Trillion.
— Hedgeye (@Hedgeye) May 9, 2022
Conservatives under attack. Contact The New York Times at 1-(800) 698-4637 and demand it report the truth on Biden’s disastrous economy.
About Post Author
