Economic disconnect: What consumers say vs. what they do

CNBC's Steve Liesman joins 'Squawk Box' with a look at the economic disconnect between how Americans view the economy versus the strong economic data.

[@Fredia-fy2xt]

Our economy struggling with uncertainties, housing issues, foreclosures, global fluctuations, and pandemic aftermath, causing instability. Rising inflation, sluggish growth, and trade disruptions need urgent attention from all sectors to restore stability and stimulate growth.

[@softy-bf5eg]

With the US dollar losing value to inflation and other currencies gaining traction, uncertainty looms. Yet, many still trust in the Dollar's perceived safety. Worried about my $420,000 retirement savings losing value, I seek alternative security for my money.

[@marlisamirabal]

With my demanding job, I lack time for investment analysis. For seven years, a fiduciary has managed my portfolio, adapting to market conditions, enabling successful navigation and informed decisions. Consider a similar approach.

[@TitaAnderson]

this is definitely considerable! think you could suggest any professional/advisors i can get on the phone with? i'm in dire need of proper portfolio allocation

[@marlisamirabal]

Just research the name Angela Lynn Schilling. You’d find necessary details to work with a correspondence to set up an appointment.

[@TitaAnderson]

I appreciate it. After searching her name online and reviewing her credentials, I'm quite impressed. I've contacted her as I could use all the help I can get. A call has been scheduled.

[@michaels7258]

The disconnect is CNBC having no clue what regular people’s lives are like.

[@vaneh6982]

Bingo..they basing it on upper middle n rich class

[@LumenMichaelOne]

It's not CNBC's fault that you're Fockt ... 😐 Nonetheless ... tell us all about it ... 😐

[@PeterSedesse]

GDP numbers and unemployment numbers are standardized, the problem is the news channels you choose to watch don't want Biden to win, so they make things sound worse than they are. Wages are increasing faster than inflation now. Maybe don't buy as many Trump bibles and Trump sneakers and things will feel better for you.

[@stant7122]

Prices have gone up, but my wages for the last 5 years has stayed the same. Maybe I'm outlier, but tougher now more than ever before.

[@user-ey5nb5dk7m]

100%!!!!

[@ScentlessSun]

The disconnect I think has to do with the fact that buying power for the average consumer is not being what it was even 4 years ago. People feel poorer because they incomes didn’t slide up as quickly as inflation rose.

[@lfischer8380]

CNBC a mouthpiece for the Democratic national committee. Do not follow

[@AndyBeltran278]

It's always interesting to see how consumer behavior often contradicts their financial goals. Maybe it's time we look deeper into what influences these decisions.

[@BrokenWill]

dopamine

[@link10909]

A few things I think are going on that the investor commentator class is missing: First fatalism, how many people see their debt growing or economic fortunes darkening but say "hey there is no point saving since I'll never afford to buy a house anyway and the country is going down the tubes". Second inflation led recessions don't decrease gross consumer spending, if I am becoming poorer in an inflation economy it may mean I spend the same amount at the grocery store or clothing store I am just getting less. If we only watch gdp, revenues, or other $ based metrics this is hidden by the data. Thirdly holding money is less desirable, in an unemployment led recession the worry is job loss so people save to cover the gap a layoff would cause, in an inflationary recession no one wants to save since saved money's value is decaying. Fourth, stock prices are inflated for two reasons, since liquidity is punished via inflation people are running to stocks to have an asset instead, and stock prices are largely based on expected future returns will be in inflated dollars as well pushing the current stock prices up. The market sees higher stock prices and is trained to consider that a good thing rather than a further warning sign of an unstable currency.

[@Hootiehoot]

Dear Economist. One can not buy into stocks and assets if one spends all of ones income on food.....

[@kevoreilly6557]

And cell phone access and internet

[@headspaceandtiming2114]

It’s about the prices going up and wages not even near keeping pace. That’s why most Americans are not happy. With Government spending and jobs keeping this house of cards standing, it’s only going to get worse.

[@lfischer8380]

CNBC a mouthpiece for the Democratic national committee. Andrew bought and paid for to miss inform.

[@marcdelvalle2127]

Ok so they stopped prices from rising faster than normal. That doesn’t mean that the economy is necessarily in a good spot. We need more info on credit defaults and unemployment rate

[@lfischer8380]

CNBC a mouthpiece for the Democratic national committee. Do not follow these guys

[@Vadim21989]

The level of gaslighting here is outrages.

[@user-kx8sf3zf2o]

Steve, increase imports may not be any indication of retail optimism, but rather simply the bringing in more of goods than needed to avoid potential tarriffs in the fall. This could have consequences, like inventory excesses.

[@kevoreilly6557]

Don’t like the results? Change the definition

[@lfischer8380]

CNBC a mouthpiece for the Democratic national committee. Andrew a POS weasel

[@jordanslingluff287]

CNBC is missing the point. We have a huge new underclass that has developed since '08. They are are huge portion of our society. That accounts for alot of the negative sentiment. The upper middle class and boomers are carrying the spending. People are not okay. They havent been a part of discretionary spending numbers for a decade plus. Thats how bad off a huge portion of our society is.....they can only spend on essentials and thats been going on credit cards lately.

[@joddeveloper7643]

so @CNBC, there has to be a one-to-one relationship between open jobs and what certificate one graduates with. please give us the data about that so we know unemployment/under-rmployment is just a feeling.

[@mbanderson83]

There have been an insane amount of layoffs announced for this year and business are going under left and right. The only people doing good are people with assets. Everyone else is just trying to survive.

[@KrisToCool]

I think there is some slowing… I would love to know if they actually believe what they say.

[@dons3073]

That’s because high rent costs that’s the reason I’m sure you guys know this also thanks for your data

[@user-sl8ou4hk3z]

It’s a disconnect on the data. It’s a disconnect from top percent and lower class Government jobs up hb in private sector

[@harrychu650]

Have Steve Lies-man do a segment where he stands in front of the CNBS building and interviews passer-byers on their view of the economy. aka, "the man on the street interview."

[@royprovins7037]

In Akron

[@erichvonmolder9310]

The Man in the street is not behaving like they are having a problem though.

[@Rob_G716]

Economy is in a recession. It’s a dog out there regardless what these talking puppets want to peddle.

[@seancarristhebest]

Cant tell if they are foolish or dishonest. Example. Coffee is up 90+ percent in a year. So they removed coffee from the CPI basket so the CPI nunber could be lower. Then they say the consumer is stupid. No, they are cooking the numbers Steve, so are you part of the problem or solution?

[@TrippleDrs33]

Coffee has not been removed from the CPI index. data.bls.gov/timeseries/APU0000717311&series_id=CUUR0000SEFP01&series_id=CUUR0000SS17031&series_id=CUUR0000SS17032

[@paulo4371]

You should just relax a little Joe! Have some sneakers..lol

[@dioncamper]

Joe got call options on the spy that he need to work out

[@joshrunge2238]

They think we don't know their data is lagging 3 months behind🤣🤣🤣 make it 57% belief in Ression

[@zbigniewkolpak4753]

Disconnect is with processing the data. If person was making 80k two years ago and even with 5% raise every year they make less then 90k but all prices went up 20% (they went up more ) he is in recession. Even if he spends more $$ he is buying less. So he is in recession. Rich people on top or in CNBC think stuff is better than it was for most people... and that should tell you how out of touch they are.

[@kevoreilly6557]

Which is nothing to do with how inflation is measured

[@michaeldavis2135]

nut why are people taking on credit card debt and going on vacation even in poor neighborhoods

[@dons3073]

In 1975 a clean motel room for the night was five dollars and a cup of coffee was a nickel

[@larrymock5108]

If folks quit spending the prices will come down.

[@virtuousxvillain2703]

Maybe the numbers are rigged…

[@delir.6488]

We are in a Recession 😂😂😂. The Economist are fooling themselves, not me. I paint my house to save money. What much food can one buy with 100 dls???😂😂😂😂😂

[@vsFY2023]

It’s really simple in my opinion. Inflation is insidious and absolutely the worst possible economic scenario for consumers. Why, because they feel it and see it everyday, everywhere. Combine that with how horrible the education most Americans recv in our schools today and they don’t even teach people about economics anymore. So they have no idea how to separate the different economic situations and definitions

[@ryandm8740]

5:32 hark I heard a cannon fft!

[@shirtlesslager]

People are SPENDING LIKE CRAZY.

[@BoldBreak]

The wealth gap is so absurd that no one near the higher end of wealth has a clue what is going on. The data being used here is cherry picked.

[@CycleGirl-77]

Real GDP = Nominal GDP minus Inflation. If the "Ministry of Truth" underestimates inflation, then they are overestimating Real GDP. It's maths.

[@Joe-nj8py]

Don’t believe the hype believe what you see yourself.

[@dustinjohnson2224]

Lower volume higher prices

[@Ma-sb4kc]

The kind of forecasts they do on GDP is just crazy,,, and then having to downgrade the forecast from +3.6 to +1.2 for Q1... Who knows where the real numbers end up 😂

[@Relaxlifeisshort2]

Lies lies lies

[@johnnyonthespot9370]

People aren’t spending more because they are doing more they are spending more because things cost more they are also opening up new credit out of necessity because they can’t afford to live otherwise

[@bubpori5105]

With Savings Rates Hitting a All Time Low do to Up Cost in the new Millennia Additional Weight must have items Adding Costs to the Bottom Line 2 times or Double of Previous Rates on a low end Projection ! Qatar Ireland pay very high rates to Savors witch Keeps them at the top of the Heap !.

[@radearpurba3589]

🤔👶🏻🥵🤒🤒🙏🏻 : I have an analogy regarding the last two years. Inflation and interest rates are like a seasonings. While the war, the money politics (or money laundering) and the poverty are the principal ingredients served and enjoyed by all people in the world. I'm sorry if my statement is wrong

[@dioncamper]

Joe got options that expires this week!! That’s why he need to know!!!

[@dons3073]

Are you guys counting the million homeless people

[@xxxxl2333]

CNBC calls it Economic disconnect while people call manipulated data

[@turboboost99]

99% of people are completely ignorant of macroeconomic terminology. They are ignorant of what "recession" means, or even what "economy" means. They think that if they're doing better, the economy is good and there's no recession. If they're doing worse, we're in a recession and the economy is bad. They think high prices means high inflation (they think it's a price level, not a rate of increase), and think it is still a huge problem, despite inflation being currently back to the historical norm of slightly above 3%.

[@MrSheymie]

Blame the victims.

[@DimeDoppler]

If you're struggling you probably poor. 😅 I see alot of people complaining but havent changed a single spending habit. Hell people going on vacation out of the country left and right. 😂

[@skyak4493]

Subtract deficit spending from GDP and we are deep in a recession.

[@tyler3030]

I can’t stand the gas lighting you guys do. Political political political. You guys are so disconnected it’s disgusting. Q2/Q3 will be disastrous

[@Idealgentlemen_]

Yall keep talking about numbers on a board, meanwhile, half of the people who report on economics probably haven’t been in a supermarket in 20+ years……astounding how the could be so disconnected 😂

[@juanrestrepo302]

Way to Go! Strong Labor Market and Solid Economy

[@user-ey5nb5dk7m]

so glad people are waking up to this msnbc like bs...

[@user-ey5nb5dk7m]

sad, Joe has to contain himself and let the liberal woke bs continue...all good Joe, we understand.