By Jacob Evans
Economics is an intricate, complex, and fascinating field of study. In fact, I am pursuing a degree in economics.
But none of that matters because economics is fake.
Gross domestic product? Never heard of it. Per capita? Nope. Trade deficit? Maybe.
At this point, you are probably wondering whether or not I am joking, or if not, you are wondering why I am so blatantly ignorant. To that, I would respond that yes, indeed, I am clueless. I am just as ignorant as the American citizen/voter. Because, if we are being honest with ourselves, only a small minority of voters care about the intricacies of economic policy. Whether or not GDP increases for another consecutive year is irrelevant to them. They will perceive very little good from this.
This sentiment flies in the face of political scientists, economists, and almost all educated people. And whilst Americans indeed care about the most basic of economic faculties (think issues such as inflation), they know nothing about their specifics whatsoever. In reality, a chart of GDP growth is just as it appears. A chart with a squiggly line that etches back and forth, changing colors from red to green over and over again.
Take inflation, for example. It’s been the hot-button issue that talking heads have claimed was critical in the 2024 Presidential Election. Prices for goods have no doubt risen at the direct expense of Americans. Particularly, it is American middle-class families that feel the greatest burden. These households make too much to receive aid from the government in times of hardship, and too little to hold enough valuable assets that would allow them to weather the storm. These Americans feel their economic loss acutely, and they don’t have the time or patience to pay attention to the little economic causes and reasons that are the source of their pain.
What do Americans pay attention to, then? The answer is obvious: vibes.
The American electorate cares about nothing but vibes. More than anything, they want to hear and feel that a person in power is doing something to advance their interests. They want someone to stick up for them, and they will present their votes to the most appealing person they can find. They want to feel that someone is seeing the same problems with the country that they are. When they see their jobs being shipped overseas so that a company can turn a larger profit, they get angry. When they see their communities inundated with ghastly ideology, they get angry. When someone in a suit with striped pants tells them that everything is fine as it is, and points at a technical chart to prove their argument, they get angry. For better or for worse, the public simply doesn’t care much about policy details. They don’t even particularly care who the candidate is or what party they belong to. In times of hardship, voters support whoever they perceive to be viewing issues the same way they are.
Let’s apply this standard to the most recent election. On the surface, the race was between an incumbent and a former president. Ostensibly, macroeconomic indicators in the country have shown that the economy has rebounded strongly since the COVID-19 pandemic. Notwithstanding inflation, the United States appears to be growing and stable.
Said no one.
Individual Americans looked at the current state of their country and watched as their president fell off a bike, fell up stairs, ate the pavement at a graduation ceremony, and wandered about the rose garden. They saw him (perhaps) poop his pants at Normandy Beach, and then listened to him slur his words at a debate that was designed for him to win. They then watched as he was whisked away into the political abyss and deposed.
They then got to spend the next several months being lectured by a new candidate who had no concrete resolutions, much less a vision for what they wanted to do with the country. They listened to this person lecture them on the dangers of fascism and unrestricted free speech, the ownership of firearms, the importance of gendered language, and the necessity to send their blood and treasure halfway across the globe. They listened to this person tell them that they were the problem with the country, and they were almost inclined to believe it.
But then they turned their head and saw another person dancing, shouting, laughing, and trolling. They heard a candidate say he was upset about many of the same things that they were upset about, and they decided to give him another chance. They saw a candidate having a party with his constituents, and they joined in. It felt better to choose that person to be their president.
This pattern has been repeated numerous times before in American political history, and even across the world. It will be repeated in the future.
Human beings will always choose vibes over economics.