To listen to Joe Biden’s press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre yesterday, you’d think these are the days of wine and roses and that Americans’ economic anxieties are a figment of our imaginations. Jean-Pierre insists that the economy is “better than it has been historically” and that Biden inherited “an economic disaster” from Trump (sic).

Reality check: prices are now officially up by just shy of 20% in less than three years.

Bloomberg (which is hardly conservative) reports “It now requires $119.27 to buy the same goods and services a family could afford with $100 before the pandemic. Since early 2020, prices have risen about as much as they had in the full 10 years preceding the health emergency.” Groceries are up 25%, used-car pries are up 35%, and rents roughly 20%.  Mortgage interest rates are 8% and car loan rates are even higher.

And savings aren’t any better off either. Federal Reserve data shows that, after adjusting for inflation, the level of bank deposits and other liquid assets were lower in June than they were in March 2020 for the vast majority of households.

Less income, rising prices, and rising household debt – and yes that will trigger a lot of anxiety.

Is it any wonder that polls show that in 2024 battleground states, voters have more trust in Donald Trump than Biden on the economy – and by a whopping 22 points?