The Perception Gap
Interesting and smart column by Kyle Smith over at the NY Post:
Twenty percent of Americans say the U.S. economy is doing well. That’s hearsay. Seventy-one percent say they, personally, are doing well. That’s their expert testimony. The Perception Gap of Americans on the economy is 51 points.
These are numbers from Pew, and not terribly surprising. I’m always mildly perplexed when I hear television announcers telling us just how terrible the economy is and how much trouble the average American worker is in.* Problems aside, these are the basic facts:
- Unemployment hovers near historical lows
- Home ownership remains at historical highs
- The average standard of living in this country is absurdly high
It’s no wonder that 7 out of 10 Americans think that they, personally, are doing well, because 7 out of ten Americans are, in fact, doing well. But what do we make out of the fact that 8 of 10 Americans think that the country is doing poorly? Smith blames the press, noting that countries without the freedom to constantly bash leaders have negative perception gaps (i.e., more people think the country is doing well than think they themselves are doing well). There’s probably something to that. But let’s consider it for a moment: what images are the American people being shown that make them think the country is doing so poorly? I mean, it’s not like we have images of soup lines and overflowing hobo camps on the nightly news. Constantly rising gas prices are probably a factor, but shouldn’t that contribute to more people thinking their own situation is worse off? I dunno. I’m guessing it’s a far more simple explanation: the average American simply has no grasp of macro economics and what it means for the country to be in good shape at a national level.
*I’m also always kind of worried that I’m out of touch with the common man, being an inside-the-beltway journalist who rides the metro and very, very rarely fills up his car with gas (or buys a gallon of milk–I hate the stuff). Seriously, I could never be president, I’d fail all those stupid “how in touch are you with the common man” tests. I’d be a one man gaffe machine. Honestly: How much is a gallon of milk? Like, $3?