Fox Analyst Argues Media Falsely Claiming Economy Good

On Tuesday, Charles Payne, the host of Fox’s “Making Money” show, went on a brief rant about how Wall Street, the White House, and the media — presumably excluding his employer — are attempting to convince Americans that the economy is doing well.

Barking mad

“Over the last six months in particular,” Payne said, “the media has gone nuts — I mean, really crazy — on their viewers, on their readers, on people who subscribe to their platform.”

The narrative

Figures in the media, in Payne’s opinion, are “saying, ‘Hey, you’re not smart, you don’t know how great you have it.’”

Those responsible

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Payne lambasted “the sort of assumptions Wall Street has made, maybe to a lesser degree the White House — the White House, I think, understands what’s happening more than they’re letting on.”

Crying out

“Americans have told those in power that they’re hurting” because of inflation, Payne argued. “They’re not dumb,” he claimed. “They understand” that lower inflation “doesn’t mean prices go down.”

And yet…

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However, according to a member of the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors, “Most Americans are not just looking for disinflation, they’re looking for deflation. They want these prices to be back where they were before the pandemic.”

Success on paper

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By November, inflation had decreased to its lowest point in over two years. In fact, the three-month change in grocery prices dipped into the negatives at one point in 2023. By December 2023, the year-over-year change in grocery prices was at 1.3%, around the same as before the pandemic.

The big problem

However, the relatively small increases in price happening right now are building on the huge increases that happened over the last few years. As Axios explained, “Americans’ frustration with their rising grocery bills underpins their negative views about the economy — an economy that the professionals say is doing pretty well.”

Key issue

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One of the major problems facing many Americans is that incomes haven’t kept up with inflation. According to analysis from the Brookings Institute, when adjusted for inflation, median weekly earnings rose by just 0.2% per year between the final three months of 2019 and the second quarter of 2023.

Unable to pay

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Even though inflation is now back under control, the lack of pay raises has left many Americans still struggling to pay for necessities which are still much pricier than they were just a few years ago.

Justified anger

Even though the economy is doing well on paper, people are simply angry at having to pay more for things, from essentials to luxuries, a November Vox report explained. In 2023, wages began outpacing inflation, but the benefits from that might not be felt for a while.

Other reasons

That all being said, other factors influence the ongoing belief that the economy is terrible. One is partisanship; the University of Michigan’s monthly consumer sentiment survey has demonstrated that Republicans are far more likely to characterize the economy as poor when a Democrat is president.

Continued stress

According to Census Bureau surveys, almost half of Americans report feeling “very stressed” by inflation. That’s similar to 2022, when inflation was much higher.

Focusing on the reality

Americans are “obsessing over the fact that the prices they pay for the things that are very salient — gas, food, grocery store prices, rent — those things still seem elevated, even though they’re not increasing as rapidly as they were,” explained Brad Hershbein, a senior economist at the Upjohn Institute.

Face reality

Payne criticized those attempting to pretend everything was good when people are struggling. “Don’t try to pull the wool over our eyes,” he warned — “because, quite frankly, it’s too expensive these days.”