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hardindr's avatar

Matt Bruenig and others have commented that the sunset of Covid-19 welfare policies is partially to blame for Biden’s low polling numbers, but you do not really discuss this. Do you think it is playing a factor?

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Maya Chhabra's avatar

Just anecdotal/more "vibes," but I personally have been more careful about discretionary spending lately, even though our income is up and my wife got a promotion this year. There's a psychological sensation based on not only of lack of agency, but the idea that hard times are coming and I had better have savings. Whether this is based on anything real or not is a good question, but around October 1st I became increasingly convinced that both the US and the world in general are headed for bad political times in the near term, with the attendant need for savings. The events in Israel and Palestine several days later were obviously coincidental, but not reassuring. There is a lot of tension and energy in the political system, and while I know almost nothing about economics (I enjoy this newsletter because it fills in part of that gap), I know enough about politics to be nervous that it's going to blow up. And that affects my financial behavior.

I also wonder about what hardindr said--the US briefly had a better welfare system during Covid including a fully refundable child benefit, which has now expired.

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