Because, for a lot of people, the economy isn't improving.

Say you were on the verge of buying a house, interest rates have doubled, are at a 22 year high, and now you're priced out of the market.

Or, say you're like me and bought a house in 2021 with a 3.25% interest rate. You're locked in. You can't sell your house, a) because nobody could afford the 7% it's going to take to buy it and b) you likely can't afford the 7% it will likely take to buy a new house.

Refinancing isn't an option because who wants a higher rate. Ditto for a 2nd mortgage.

And this doesn't even get into rising food and fuel costs.

When asked to rate the national economy, some people base it on how they're doing financially or what they experience themselves. That might seem odd at first

No it’s not! That’s not weird! The strength of the economy is supposed to relate to people’s personal experiences! If the economy is doing “well” but everything is still getting worse for almost everyone, then either we’re measuring the wrong things, or the premise that economic health, as defined, is good for society is false.

The deal is that the line goes up and everyone gets more. If that’s no longer true, there’s no reason to sacrifice anything for economic growth. We should just be making sure that people are getting their basic needs met and that’s it.

Because it's not getting better.

I'll rate it better when my family is priced back into a weekly fast food trip, or even somewhere with healthy food. We slipped out of middle class by holding still and a "better" economy where nothing gets better for us means fuck all.

Citations Needed:

But why should we be expected to just accept that a news report that “the economy” is on the upswing means the average worker is doing any better, when all evidence is to the contrary? Why should our media’s economic so-called “experts” come from a pool of elite economics departments beholden to corporate donors and right-wing think tanks? And why must “the economy” be defined in terms of whether the Dow is up or down, instead of whether people have food, housing, healthcare, and job security?--

• Episode 150: How Economic Jargon and Cliches Make Cruel, Anti-Poor Policies Sound Sterile and Science-y (Part I)
• Episode 151: How Economic Jargon and Cliches Make Cruel, Anti-Poor Policies Sound Sterile and Science-y (Part II)

This is the best summary I could come up with:

When asked to rate the national economy, some people base it on how they're doing financially or what they experience themselves.

Today the number of people describing themselves as "living comfortably and able to save" is still lower than it was in the summer of 2019, before the pandemic hit.

We might have expected big change in the lower income bracket of under $50,000, too, given that prices are absolute, but in fact there wasn't much.

Lower expenses might make these figures actually look more stable over time, but then standards of living might have gone down, perhaps spurring negative views in either case.)

That, in turn, is one reason that President Biden's economy and inflation ratings are staying low.

This CBS News/YouGov survey was conducted with a nationally representative sample of 2,335 U.S. adult residents interviewed between September 5-8, 2023.

The original article contains 774 words, the summary contains 141 words. Saved 82%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

IArticle makes some good points. I’m afraid if democrats fail to deliver real economic gains for workers in the next year, this country will slide into fascism.

Of course with a divided congress, there is little they can do. So it may be down to luck.