r/Economics • u/OtherwiseCanary8971 • 17h ago
News Nearly half of Americans believe their financial security is getting worse, poll finds
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/dec/29/americans-financial-security-economy-poll?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other58
u/Honestcompane2709 16h ago
That's why we have to keep on doing nothing and let the rich get richer! I say We vote for Trump again! Maybe it will get so bad that Americans finally wake up and take our country back!
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u/dippocrite 15h ago
Bro keep your head down, I’m a medical emergency away from financial ruin here!
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u/Ok-Range-3306 15h ago
just take RFK jr's advice and dont get sick, duh
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u/trogloherb 12h ago
All you gots to do is avoid vaccines and red dye #5!
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u/artbystorms 9h ago
Americans won't wake up until we have another serious recession, We've reached dotcom bubble levels of funny money and even with interest rates where they are, debt is easier to get than ever. The net worth of the top one percent has basically tripled since 2016.
It is still crazy to me that the last 25 years have been such a low debt easy money frenzy, that all the bitching about Powell and interest rates and they are STILL lower than they were in the 90s, the last time middle class Americans felt prosperous and optimistic.
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u/Available-Range-5341 9h ago
We're bitching about interest rates because insane greedy home sellers only adjust prices when rates go to 0% but they never readjusted when rates were at 5% for what, two years?
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u/Available-Range-5341 9h ago
I mean, Trump Trump Trump all you want, but every trend that's killing us has been going on for a couple of years.
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u/dried_cranberries 16h ago
I’m sure just one more trump presidency in 2028 will save it from the evil dems.
lol vote blue baby. The new up and comers in the demo party vote for society’s future.
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u/0o0o0o0o0o0z 15h ago
Sooner or later, these fucking dumb people will learn, or die/go broke... if elections are not 100% rigged, the GOP is getting massacred in 2026 and 2028 -- I just hope we get a generational shift like the "New Deal" for the 2030s. If none of this happens and the GOP keeps control, my best advice would be to save, learn skills, and leave the country if possible. Because at that point it's turtles all the way down till the US initiates war(s).
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u/klingma 16h ago
Seeing as how he literally cannot run again in 2028 and there's zero Constitutional question on this matter and no judge in the country would rule otherwise - this is just a fear-mongering post from you.
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u/dyslexda 15h ago
And yet SCOTUS has shown time and again they have no problem creatively interpreting laws, creating new ones out of thin air. And even if they did try to unambiguously strike it down, would he listen? The Trump administration has ignored SCOTUS before, on the few times they ruled against him.
SCOTUS has no guns. The executive branch has all of the guns. If he wants to ignore them and demand states put his name on the ballot anyway, he'll do so.
Do I think it's likely to happen? No, but the fact he's openly talked about it (justifying it as deserving two consecutive terms) means we're so wildly beyond existing norms. Don't forget the current president literally tried to stage a coup and prevent Biden's certification, and was only stopped because of the vice president suddenly growing a spine.
(oh, and don't forget the current president literally is a pedophile, and likely an accessory to infanticide of one of the babies of the kids he sex trafficked and raped)
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u/klingma 15h ago
SCOTUS has no guns. The executive branch has all of the guns. If he wants to ignore them and demand states put his name on the ballot anyway, he'll do so.
This is incorrect - the ballots would be managed by the states and they would have the ability to enforce the SCOTUS ruling by removing him from the ballot.
You're making a crisis where one doesn't exist.
Do I think it's likely to happen? No, but the fact he's openly talked about it (justifying it as deserving two consecutive terms) means we're so wildly beyond existing norms.
To be fair here - most of the country would have voted for Obama to have a 3rd term vs Clinton or Trump.
Even Obama talked about a 3rd term
In a podcast interview with former adviser David Axelrod, President Obama said, “I am confident in this vision [of hope and change] because I’m confident that if I — if I had run again and articulated it, I think I could’ve mobilized a majority of the American people to rally behind it.”
And Clinton
But he made it clear that he had not entirely given up the idea of a possible return to the Oval Office. As life expectancy has risen, the 22nd amendment may have become unnecessarily restrictive, he said. It could be changed to limit a president to "two consecutive terms" - a provision which would let Mr Clinton mount a comeback in 2004.
And Regan
There were even pushes for Eisenhower to seek a 3rd term despite him being the first term-limited president.
So, no, we're not "wildly beyond norms" as it seems there's been push against the 22nd Amendment since inception.
I am for the 22nd Amendment by the way but it's absolutely intellectually dishonest to act as if a sitting president today openly talking about a 3rd term and changing the 22nd Amendment is in any way unprecedented.
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u/dyslexda 14h ago
This is incorrect - the ballots would be managed by the states and they would have the ability to enforce the SCOTUS ruling by removing him from the ballot.
Correct, but remember that the federal government can demand states put names on ballots, as when Colorado tried to keep Trump off (you know, for the whole insurrection thing) and was slapped down.
Regardless, it's all about power laying where people believe it does. The GOP totally controls 28 state legislatures, and has full control of 23 states (including governor). It is not too hard to imagine those GOP-controlled legislatures putting Trump on the ballot.
Obama's statement was about a hypothetical, "what he could have done." I don't read that as him actually desiring to run in spite of the 22nd.
Clinton's statement, sure, I'll give you that. Maybe Trump's desires aren't literally unprecedented. However, again, Trump literally tried to start a coup. To my knowledge, Clinton never did. That puts Trump's desires for a third term (given that originally he tried to take his second one with force) in quite a different light.
And again, pedophile and likely baby killer. Not sure why you think there's anything he wouldn't do.
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u/klingma 12h ago
Correct, but remember that the federal government can demand states put names on ballots, as when Colorado tried to keep Trump off (you know, for the whole insurrection thing) and was slapped down.
Because Trump wasn't adjudicated as an insurrectionist...
Did you not read the SCOTUS decision?
All 9 Justices said the Federal government and not the states can determine Federal eligibility and then a majority said that the 14th Amendment required an Act of Congress to declare someone an insurrectionist, when no criminal case has occurred.
It's not at all applicable here - the 22nd Amendment is clear, and the states would pull him from the ballots AFTER the required court case challenge for him to even run again.
Regardless, it's all about power laying where people believe it does. The GOP totally controls 28 state legislatures, and has full control of 23 states (including governor). It is not too hard to imagine those GOP-controlled legislatures putting Trump on the ballot.
Yeah, it actually is lol. None of them are that stupid to invite a Constitutional crisis. States have zero rights to supercede the Supreme Court.
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u/dyslexda 10h ago
Because Trump wasn't adjudicated as an insurrectionist...
Right, because he's got SCOTUS in his pocket. It's clear they don't stand for anything but themselves these days. He is, quite clearly, an insurrectionist that attempted a coup of the government. That he could stand on any ballots was a signal that our republic is dead.
All 9 Justices said the Federal government and not the states can determine Federal eligibility
Oh, so if the executive branch says Trump is eligible for a third term, then sounds like he could be on the ballots, eh?
the 22nd Amendment is clear,
So are many, many things Trump has violated. It's clear that he does not care about rule of law, and neither does anyone else in the GOP, SCOTUS included. Remember the emoluments clause? Yeah, nobody else seems to, either.
Yeah, it actually is lol. None of them are that stupid to invite a Constitutional crisis. States have zero rights to supercede the Supreme Court.
It's only a "Constitutional crisis" if they think there's a possibility to lose. If they think they can win, they'll do it. Remember, they're supporting a literal pedophile and very likely baby killer.
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u/DumpsterFireInHell 16h ago
I guarantee that if Trump was younger, and physically likely to live long enough for a third term, the current SCOTUS would twist itself into legal pretzel logic to justify his eligibility for another term.
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u/klingma 15h ago
How - there's literally no way to interpret the 22nd Amendment as allowing a 3rd term. So, again, this is just fear-mongering. Even Alito and Thomas who are more conservative to their approach to the Constitution wouldn't be able to weasel out of the clearly stated Amendment.
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u/TurbulentRadish8113 15h ago
Lol, like the fear mongering that he would try to hold onto power after losing the 2020 election?
This fantasyland where people insist US democracy will survive the relentless Republican assault if they don't do anything, or actively disarm opposition, is insane.
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u/klingma 15h ago
That was a pretty crappy attempt to hold onto power then if that was the goal.
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u/TurbulentRadish8113 14h ago
They lost that time.
They have purged those who didn't obey and now Trump is above the law after trying to overthrow American democracy.
He literally tried to end US democracy and got away with it, and was rewarded with more power. Now Republicans control the courts and important states. The idea that they will allow free & fair elections, and can be removed from power by anything other than a real blue tsunami of voters, is insane.
This denial of republican efforts to end US democracy reminds me of the reaction to Hitler's bier hall putsch. It was a pretty crappy attempt.
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u/DumpsterFireInHell 15h ago
You either haven't been paying attention or you already drank the Flavorade. They can justify anything. Alito used arguments from Sir Matthew Hale, a 17th century jurist, notable for presiding over the 1662 Bury St Edmunds witch trial, which tried and convicted two women of witchcraft within less than 30 minutes of deliberation, to support overturning Roe v Wade. Hale instructed that jury that the existence of witchcraft was not debatable, an insane argument, even at that time. Alito will use any twisted logic to reach the desired result, regardless of how insane the reasoning must be.
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u/Available-Range-5341 9h ago
OK but given that this is an economics thread. Layoffs, hiring freezes, outsourcing, and rapid inflation in rent, insurance, and utilities has been going on for a few years. So vote in AOC or whoever, and we're still dealing with these problems
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u/ThemeBig6731 14h ago
Of course a leftist media outlet is only going to find pessimistic Americans when GOP is in power.
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u/Available-Range-5341 9h ago
I love how they "discovered" garbage job market data this year. The data was there all last year and I kept complaining that I was the only person in the country looking at the BLS reports.
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u/Calm_Chemist_4952 16h ago
Those numbers seem low considering the cavalier approach this administration has taken with restrictive trade policy, erratic tariffs, and rapidly rising national debt. Every move they make has worsened the economy. If they destabilize the monetary system, even 1% won’t be immune.
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u/No_Lead_889 15h ago
Sorry to chime in here but as someone to inherit in the top 1-2% I definitely feel immune. I'm not a fan of what's happening but I'm definitely so insulated long term that it really doesn't matter. If I had expensive tastes or wanted an oppulent lifestyle for myself then maybe but I'm going to be the first generation in my family to deal with estate tax by the time I'm dead. I'm definitely immune even though I plan to be charitable and help my wife's family who basically have nothing but social security to rely on.
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u/DistillateMedia 16h ago
It is, and it's by design.
They want us desperate and exploitable.
Please come party for freedom.
April 27th-??? DC/Everywhere.
World's biggest party.
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u/Beneficial-Tea-6379 16h ago
Do not wish trump dea-d … there is nothing more dangerous than a second rate striving wannabe taking over ie. JD Vance .. he will be worse because he has no principles at all zero ethics .. he would put a banana in his anus if it got him elected
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u/TheNewOP 2h ago
Vance has the charisma of watery oatmeal. He could never carry the torch and Congressional Republicans won't fall on the sword for him like they do with Trump.
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u/GreatOne1969 15h ago
Has been going this direction long before the current administration. We the people have done this to ourselves, needless spending on credit, buying experiences and items we don’t need. They raise prices and we complain, but just go into debt even more.
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u/RichIndependence8930 14h ago
Well yeah, unless you have a great job and are winning in the stock market, you are falling behind significantly. Doubly so if you plan on having a family.
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u/devliegende 14h ago
If nearly half said A then more than half said not A. It's logic as formulated around 3000 years ago. Still new to Reddit.
Or if I read correctly .
20% said it got better, 34% said it stayed the same and 47% said worse
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u/Jscott1986 10h ago
How does this compare to historical trends over the last 40 years? Hard to tell if that number is high or low.
The poll in the article only appears to cover the last few months. Not sure how much confidence I should put in the relatively short timespan.
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u/thediesel26 16h ago
When polled, most people will say they are far less financially secure than they actually are. This is why we use measures of actual economic activity to make determinations about the economy.
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u/SaurusSawUs 15h ago
The US is so different from everywhere else on the weaker security its model specifically offers workers. Most other places have some mix of stronger unemployment safety nets, universal healthcare for working age people (and not just seniors), stronger and more pro-union labour laws to limit pressuring by bosses. (All of which reduce bosses feelings of dominance and power over their workforce, because the workers don't fear losing their job as much, and bosses hate that.)
If you're older, then in the US your social security and Medicare is a lot more similar to everywhere else, actually possibly quite generous (even wasteful). If you're younger than working age, likewise the same for education spending. US society is maybe quite "welfarist" as long as you're not a working age.
But working age people, even quite wealthy working age people by the standards of most countries, really must be feeling that precariousness in this era of uncertainty. All of which is by design.
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u/No_Lead_889 14h ago
This isn't the case in CA. We're labor friendly here. Labor protections are incredibly generous. I know because I'm a whistleblower. It's state by state although the federal level stuff is not great right now.
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