Two weeks ago, the Census Bureau released it’s real median income numbers for 2022, with real income falling a shocking 2.3% from 2021 to 2022. Yet the Biden Administration and its promoters continue to be amazed that Americans really don’t understand how good things are with Bidenomics! Consider Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman (hat tip to FEE) and his comments on how well the economy is really doing.

Mr. Krugman’s answer that the polls are all about tribalism and partisanship are belied by the broad polling data showing both Democrats and Republicans are pretty solidly convinced the economy is not doing well. And as FEE notes, Krugman was a principle advocate for the Keynesian deluge of spending that caused the inflation:

The Nobel Prize-winning economist was at the forefront of the group calling for a robust federal spending bill in early 2021. Splitting with more prudent left-wing economists (actually, better ones) such as Lawrence Summers, Krugman urged Biden to “go big and ignore the worriers,” calling the inflation threat “ greatly exaggerated .”

It’s really pretty easy to understand the economic angst: real income down for three straight years, National Debt exploding to over $33T, real interest rates higher than they’ve been in decades, home mortgages over 7% with housing unaffordability increasing, leading economic indicators falling for months straight signaling recession ahead, gasoline prices up markedly again this summer and fall, with no end in sight. And oh, by the way, the Biden administrations diktat that we force auto manufacturers to transition to EVs, which cost much more and result in 40% less labor to produce is part of the reason we see the UAW striking right now. What’s so hard to understand about the polling number? Occam’s Razor definitely applies here–you don’t need to assert partisanship as the reason people don’t like Bidenomics. Maybe people just don’t like Biden and his economy? Maybe Joe Biden is a dud?

But even as the Federal Reserve continues to wring inflation out of the economy (yes, it actually is coming down–more later this week), the secondary pain from the previous inflationary binge is happening here in southwest Ohio (and likely everywhere else in the country with property taxes). The Nextdoor app is blowing up with peoples shock at having their housing value assessed at about 20% higher values, with an imminent corresponding tax increase coming this spring. Taxes in my local district are outrageous (~3% of assessed value), so this increased assessment is a pretty sizable dent in income. As I’ve written over the years, the Public Choice economist’s lament that people are rationally ignorant about political matters does not apply to inflation. We feel it deeply with every purchase reminding us we’re falling further behind. We may not collectively always understand why this is happening, but when we know that we’re working just as hard as we were previously, and now our dollars aren’t going as far, something’s rotten in the state of Denmark.

And the Biden Administration doesn’t understand why it’s not getting credit for the great economy it’s creating. Maybe the voters will help them understand next November.

EDIT Update: Just after publication National Review has an article showing that the Mr. Biden is all over inflation. Is he concerned about the higher food, energy and housing costs we face? Nope. Concert ticket prices. That’s the problem in America today. Talk about a disconnect from reality.