There have been some interesting comments out of the Obama camp on unemployment lately; it seems that the White House doesn't think that average Americans follow GDP or unemployment numbers. Press secretary Jay Carney addresses this view in the video below.
So what do readers think? Is the White House right that people act on their guts, or is the adminstration out of touch with how savvy the average American might be on the economy? As always, we would appreciate any thoughts readers might have on this idea in the comments section below.
I don't follow them. I pay attention when they're brought up, either as a reason my investments are dropping or as a talking point by politicians.
ReplyDeleteBut I do follow generally whether people say that things are good or bad, which is essentially the same thing. The average American may not follow unemployment numbers, but they watch the news, and the news tells them whether the job picture is good or bad based on ... unemployment numbers.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading and thanks for the comment. I get the sense that you are probably right about this. While people may hear an unemployment number on the news on from a pol from time to time, I don't think that most Americans follow the numbers too closely.
I also agree that they have a sixth sense on whether things are good or bad. I might even posit that this general and innate 'how good are things' index is more accurate than some of the government generated unemployment numbers, but that is just a guess.
JS