2-minute read
98 days, 14 hours, and 49 minutes. That’s the countdown.
The countdown to what?
To the presidential election.
Ah, yes.
But there hasn’t been a lot of fanfare around it so I wouldn’t expect you to figure that out.
The good news is once the country makes their choice the political hoopla will really die down.
Lol.
What’re you doing bringing up politics? I thought you were too fragile to dive into those waters.
Yes, I’d rather risk various communicable diseases in a McDonald’s ball pit. But something piqued my interest.
What’s that?
Check out this poll[1]:
Not sure I needed this deep polling research from CBS to tell me that Democrats and Republicans disagree on their view of the economy. But thanks for the breaking news…
This doesn’t surprise you even a little bit? Look at that disparity!
Honestly, not really. We just had presidential candidates argue about golf as if they were 6 beers deep on the 19th hole.
But it hasn’t always been like this. Take a look at this[2]:
What are you seeing here?
Democrats and Republicans were fairly aligned in their assessments of the economy during George H.W. Bush’s presidency as well as Clinton’s. Then the 2000s came along…
Right, right. It’s quite the divergence after George W. Bush comes into office. Why do you think that is?
I frankly don’t know. Studies around political polarization exist, but I don’t think George W. Bush was the cause of it. I just know that Americans view the economy through a hyper focused political lens.
Is that necessarily a bad thing?
If you let it affect your personal finances, then it’s certainly a bad thing. I often hear, “I can’t wait until my guy gets into office because that’s when the market will take off.”. Or, “Interest rates will be lower after my candidate wins so I’ll wait to buy a house then.”
Can you blame people for thinking like that? It’s hard not to these days.
I don’t blame them. I get it. But it’s worth reminding people that the economy and the market don’t care about your Obama portrait or MAGA hat.
I agree but also can’t imagine our country’s polarization dying down anytime soon. That’s a FAT genie to put back in the bottle.
Sadly, I agree. Interestingly enough, there is an aspect to this where Democrats and Republicans think exactly alike.
What’s that?
Their personal finances.
Still sad, but interesting.
I’d like to see those numbers higher as well. However, it shows that politics only goes so far in determining our financial beliefs. Perhaps a silver lining to all of this.
Alright, we done talking politics now?
Yessir. Enjoy the next 98 days, 14 hours, and 47 minutes.
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[1] Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/economy-opinion-poll-2023-07-30/
[2] Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cbs-news-poll-analysis-americans-rate-economy-partisan-lens/
[3] Source: https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2024/05/23/views-of-the-nations-economy-may-2024/