According to data released by the Bureau of Economic Statistics (BES), US real GDP grew at an annual rate of 3.3% in the fourth quarter of 2023. An increase in real GDP of $1.5 trillion with an increase in public debt over from 2 trillion dollars shows that the country’s economy continues to have problems to be solved. It’s a bloated economy. Moreover, there is nothing positive in the consumption indicators as the average consumer buys less things with his salary. The figures for December show, however, that the average citizen saved only 3.7% of his salary.
We can’t forget that one of the biggest drivers of real GDP growth in the fourth quarter was the sharp decline in the GDP deflator, which came in at 1.5%, down from half the previous reading of 3.3%.
- Credit card debt is at historic highs, and Americans are taking longer to pay off their debts.
- The percentage of Americans in financial distress due to credit card debt has reached the same level as it did during the Great Recession, according to a report by the Federal Reserve Bank of Saint Louis.
- It’s no surprise, then, that six in ten people polled by CBS News said they rated the economy as fairly bad or very bad.
- US economic policy seems to be becoming increasingly hostile to small businesses and households, that is, to those who feel the worst effects of inflation.
- In the US as in Europe, the same thing is happening: governments are cheering for changes in overall GDP and annual inflation, while the average citizen sees the purchasing power of wages rapidly diminishing and the ability to overcome the problems of everyday life more limited.
- Small businesses feel the squeeze on profit margins when inflation soars and suffer doubly when interest rates rise because the entire weight of monetary policy is placed on the shoulders of the average worker and small business owner.
