President Donald Trump can’t stop talking about, in his showy salesman style, how well the stock market has done during his second presidential term, using the rising tickers for indexes such as the Dow, S&P 500, and NASDAQ as stand-ins for a good economy. But, unfortunately for Trump’s popularity and potentially for Republican candidates who are seen as bearing responsibility with him for the state of the American economy, most Americans see the economic situation as bad and worsening despite any stock market gains.
Jacob Bogage, in a Friday Reuters article, pointed out an uncomfortable truth for Trump as Trump continues boasting about stock market gains. “Trump has increasingly cast Wall Street’s gains as a measure of his presidency, treating record stock prices as proof that his policies are working even as many Americans remain squeezed by high living costs and millions own no stock at all,” explained Bogage. Just over half of capital market investments are owned by one percent of American earners, while the bottom half of American earners own just one percent. In fact, notes Bogage, roughly 40 percent of Americans do not own even a single share of stock.
Meanwhile, most Americans are perceiving significant economic problems. In a Tuesday The Guardian article, Gaya Gupta related that a new Harris Poll survey found that an astounding 95 percent of Americans, which would include most American stock owners and nonowners, “believe the US is suffering an affordability crisis.” Further, noted Gupta, Americans’ assessment of the direction the economy is moving has been becoming more negative over the last few months. Wrote Gupta:
Despite stable employment and record-high stock markets, more Americans believe the overall economy is getting worse (57%) than in February (46%), when the poll was last conducted and before the war in the Middle East sent gas prices soaring. Fewer people today also believe the economy is getting better (16%, compared with 28% in February) and more say their financial security has gotten worse.
The economic pessimism reflected in the polling, Gupta further wrote, extends even to Republicans and rural voters who have been comparatively supportive of Trump and other Republican candidates.
