Americans have felt poorer due to the increased cost of living and stagnant wages since the pandemic of COVID-19 that occurred in 2020. This makes for a quite complicated portrait for the 2024 US presidential elections, as those affected by poverty and unstable wages are not just a minority – they are wide sections of the population, with more joining their ranks each year.
In Europe, the current policies tend towards greater emphasis on quality of life, while in the US, President Donald Trump’s tax cuts and deregulation spurred on a higher GDP growth than what was accomplished in the past by Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. This fail to translate, however, into higher wages for the US population.
On the contrary, since the inflation began rising in 2021, S&P 500 companies saw their stocks suffer, with an overall decrease of prices each quarter. This brought down stock prices in 2022 across the board. This also had a negative effect on the real wages of American citizens.
Therefore, it cannot be said that the blame falls squarely on corporations or the wealthy grabbing a larger share of the economic pie. It must be taken into account that because of the shortages of certain items, this allowed mega corporations such as Nestle, Kraft-Heinz and Procter & Gamble to seize the opportunity to increase their margins of profit.
The real issue lies in the larger federal deficits, which necessitates more and more spending in order to cover them. This spending is happening largely in areas such as defense, infrastructure, and other public initiatives like research and development.
The US national debt is estimated to reach $21 trillion by 2033 with a 7.3% debt to GDP ratio. This phenomenon leads to interest rates increasing, making it harder and harder for the typical budget holder to cover the expenses, pressing for cuts in important public services like Social Security, Medicare, defense and other staples of daily US life.
This rising inefficiency of public spending is ever so noticeable when paired with the protectionist policies of current President, Joe Biden. These policies have provided a strain on foreign investments, leading to a decrease in wages coming from higher priced items such as technology, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment.
It is a false discourse to blame any of these issues on corporations or the wealthy. The real problem is a lack of funding and an enthusiasm to meddle with the marketplace, leading to a growing debt issue, higher inflation and an economy unable to provide real wages competitive to prices of items.
The company mentioned in the article, Nestle, is a Swiss food production conglomerate. It brands itself as the world’s largest food company and focuses its efforts on the production of food products. It was founded in 1866 and produces some of the most popular products in the global market like bottled water, breakfast cereals and baby food.
The person mentioned in the article is Peter Morici, an Economist, Emeritus Business Professor and National Columnist. He is a professor of international business at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. He is a widely known and widely respected figure in the business world and has written articles for Yahoo Finance, The Washington Times, Business Insider and other prominent sites.
