White House Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Jared Bernstein claimed consumer behavior trumps polls when it comes to the public’s economic outlook.
Bernstein appeared on Fox News Sunday to address polls that reflected discouragement felt by consumers. Among them was a Wall Street Journal and University of Chicago poll that found just 36% believe in the American dream, which was half the amount of respondents who agreed last year.
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WATCH: @econjared46 on voters’ outlook on the economy. pic.twitter.com/uaLVSe5O8R
— Fox News Sunday (@FoxNewsSunday) November 26, 2023
“So, look, I think the question needs to be not are those polls right or wrong. People are telling us how they feel,” Bernstein said. “We’ve got more work to do for it to reach average Americans who, by the way, are telling us through their consumer behavior that they’re feeling pretty good about their own financial conditions.”
He claimed that the administration is “moving in the right direction” because real wages are rising and inflation has decreased two-thirds from its peak.
“We’re seeing shoots of improvement in those areas. Real wages are now growing, and they’ve been growing not just for a week or two but for four or five or six months,” Bernstein said. “We are seeing, yes, higher interest rates but also people’s pay, people’s disposable income has been rising. So, their debt service payments, what they’re paying to service their lending, is actually quite low.”
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The Council of Economic Advisers includes C. Kirabo Jackson, a professor at Northwestern University, and Heather Boushey, former chief economist for then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
The advisers “analyze and interpret economic developments and formulate and recommend economic policies that advance the interests of the American people,” according to the White House website. Their terms are determined by the president who nominates them.
