cover of episode Why are we so bummed about the economy?

Why are we so bummed about the economy?

2023/12/1
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People
B
Betsy Kitchen
C
Cloudia Sam
J
Joan Shoen
受访者
旁白
知名游戏《文明VII》的开场动画预告片旁白。
Topics
旁白: 本期节目探讨了当前经济数据向好,但民众对经济的感受却异常低迷的现象。这一现象构成一个经济谜团,因为经济形势好坏与民众感受通常是一致的,但目前两者出现脱节。 Cloudia Sam: 对当前经济形势与民众感受的脱节感到困惑,试图通过直接询问民众来理解这种现象,但在社交媒体上却遭到批评。她承认民众的不满情绪是合理的,并表示不会试图强迫他们感到快乐。她强调,为了制定有效的政策,需要理解民众的经济感受。 Betsy Kitchen: 作为密歇根大学消费者情绪调查的采访者,她分享了进行电话调查的一些技巧,并展示了调查中询问受访者家庭的财务状况、对未来一年经济形势的预期以及对当前购房时机的看法等问题。 Joan Shoen: 密歇根大学消费者情绪调查负责人,她指出该调查拥有长期数据,可以进行历史比较分析。通过与历史数据比较,可以分析当前消费者情绪的异常之处。她将当前消费者情绪与20世纪70年代末80年代初的经济形势进行比较,并分析了调查中关于商业环境变化的提问结果,以及开放式问题的回答。她认为,智能手机和社交媒体可能加剧了负面信息的传播和放大,政治极化也影响了民众的情绪。 受访者: 认为现在不是购房的好时机,原因是利率和房价过高。 Cloudia Sam: 试图区分社会文化因素和经济因素对消费者情绪的影响,并探究消费者情绪是否反映了数据未捕捉到的经济现实。她认为疫情后的经济复苏可能存在不平等现象,但数据显示疫情后的经济复苏惠及低收入人群,刺激计划、劳动力市场收紧等因素使低收入人群受益。她还指出,“财务状况是否好转”这一问题可能包含了收入稳定性等因素,传统的就业数据可能无法反映零工经济等新兴就业形式的现状,疫情期间的经济援助政策到期可能导致民众感受恶化。她对疫情期间经济援助政策的效果进行了反思,并认为低迷的消费者情绪可能引发经济衰退,消费者情绪与经济衰退之间存在关联。尽管消费者情绪低迷,但消费支出并未减少,这降低了对经济衰退的担忧。她认为疫情可能导致消费者情绪与经济数据脱节。

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Shownotes Transcript

Would you say that you and your family are better off or worse off, financially, than you were a year ago? Do you think in 12 months we'll have good times, financially, or bad? Generally speaking, do you think now is a good time or a bad time to buy a house? These are the kinds of questions baked into the Consumer Sentiment Index. And while the economy has been humming along surprisingly well lately, sentiment has stayed surprisingly low.Today on the show: We are really bummed about the economy, despite the fact that unemployment and inflation are down. So, what gives? We talk to a former Fed economist trying to get to the heart of this paradox, and travel to Michigan to check in on the place where they check the vibes of the economy. *Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts) or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney).*Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices)NPR Privacy Policy)