this post was submitted on 31 Oct 2026
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After reading this news story that half of Americans are skipping meals because of affordability and a bad economy, I have to ask how are you all doing out there?

I heard from a real estate agent friend of mine that REOs, i.e. bank foreclosures on home mortgages, are going up like crazy, which is a sign of bad times, like the recession of 2007-08.

I have heard from others about rents not being paid, lack of jobs, etc.

Every day, there’s more news of corporate layoffs, moreso than usual.

I live in the economic bubble of the SF Bay Area, where tech wealth more-or-less insulates me and mine from the most serious consequences of a bad economy, but how are things elsewhere?

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[–] OneWomanCreamTeam@sh.itjust.works 31 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

That's because they aren't looking at numbers or statistics that are directly relevant to typical citizens. GDP isn't the same thing as average wages or cost of living.

The economy is great if you're disgustingly wealthy.

[–] schipelblorp@sh.itjust.works 8 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Yes, but they do look at stuff like the unemployment rate, wages, etc.. But I don't think it captures the lived experience of stagnation we've been having for the past several years, and even if there's "job growth" it might not be good jobs and people might know that they're chances of getting a good job are slim to none, etc... lots of little things that wouldn't necessarily be reflected in these incredibly broad statistics.

But economics, as a practiced science, is about boosting GDP, not making the lives of individuals better, so I think it indicates that the entire field is deeply flawed.

[–] mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works 12 points 1 day ago (1 children)

But economics, as a practiced science

"Economics" and "science" don't belong in a sentence together

[–] wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz 2 points 13 hours ago

Unless there's a "pseudo" immediately before the "science"...

[–] Crankenstein@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

Never forget that the capitalist economy thrives off of the exploitation of the working class.

[–] liuther9@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] schipelblorp@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

It kind of it is, because it doesn't capture people who have given up on looking for work, either because they don't think they can get a job, or think the jobs they can get are emotionally/physically worse than living off whatever systems they have access to.

The one you want to look at it if you want to understand society better is NEET--people Not in Education, Employment or Training..