MIDTERM AFFORDABILITY: Economist ADDRESSES rising prices and household income gains

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: I THINK THAT'S WHAT WE ARE GOING TO DO. 15 DAYS OUT FROM THE MIDTERMS, AFFORDABILITY IS CLEARLY THE BIG ISSUE FOR VOTERS. LOOK AT THIS. OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS, GROCERY PRICES, COSTS, I SHOULD SAY, COSTS HAVE GONE UP $14 A WEEK, MORTGAGE PAYMENTS UP $84 A MONTH, AND THE AVERAGE PRICE FOR A NEW CAR IS UP NEARLY $2,000. ECONOMIST STEVE MOORE JOINS US [00:00:25] Speaker ?: NOW. [00:00:26] Speaker 2: THIS IS STICKER SHOCK, ISN'T IT? I THINK THE COSTS ARE UP A LOT, STUART, NO QUESTION ABOUT IT, BUT GUESS WHAT? THERE'S SOME GOOD NEWS. INCOMES UP A LOT AS WELL, AND IN FACT, INCOMES FOR -- IF YOU LOOK AT THE MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME, WE JUST RAN THESE NUMBERS AT UNLEACHED PROSPERITY, SO THEY'RE HOT OFF THE PRESSES, BUT THE AVERAGE HOUSEHOLD HAS $200 MORE INCOME ADJUSTED FOR INFLATION THAN THEY DID WHEN BIDEN LEFT OFFICE. SO FOR THE MOST PART, PEOPLE ACTUALLY HAVE MORE INCOME, EVEN THOUGH THEY'RE PAYING MORE. I THINK THEY'RE PAYING MORE INCOME, AND I THINK THEY'RE PAYING MORE INCOME. YESTERDAY, YOU'RE NOT GOING TO BELIEVE THIS, I HAVE AN AUDI, AND IT TAKES DIESEL. I WENT TO FILL IT UP YESTERDAY. YOU KNOW WHAT IT COST ME TO FILL UP THAT TANK? TELL ME. THEY'RE PAYING MORE INCOME. IT'S NOT GOING TO FILL IT. THEY'RE PAYING MORE INCOME. THEY'RE PAYING MORE INCOME. SO I UNDERSTAND PEOPLE ARE ANGRY. WHAT I'M SAYING IS THOUGH THAT INCOME IS UP. NOW, THEN THE QUESTION IS HOW CAN THE WASHINGTON POST SAY, OH, THAT WAGES ARE FLAT? BECAUSE INCOME IS A DIFFERENT MEASURE THAN WAGES. SO WHEN YOU LOOK AT PEOPLE'S INCOME, YOU'RE NOT JUST LOOKING AT MORE AND MORE PEOPLE DON'T JUST MAKE MONEY FROM THEIR [00:01:31] Speaker ?: WAGES. [00:01:31] Speaker 2: THEY HAVE INCOME FROM CAPITAL [00:01:33] Speaker ?: GAINS. [00:01:33] Speaker 2: THEY OWN STOCK. THEY HAVE 401K PLANS. THEY HAVE OTHER SOURCES OF INCOME. AND THOSE ARE UP FAIRLY SUBSTANTIALLY. YES, THEY ARE. I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE PEOPLE UNDERSTAND. I'VE GOT TO GET THAT OUT [00:01:43] Speaker ?: THERE. [00:01:43] Speaker 1: THE AVERAGE BALANCE ON A 401K IS UP ROUGHLY 28,000 I THINK IT IS OVER THE PAST TWO YEARS. THAT'S EXACTLY RIGHT. [00:01:51] Speaker 2: WE JUST RAN THOSE NUMBERS AT UNLEASH PROSPERITY. ACTUALLY OUR NUMBER IS A LITTLE LOWER THAN THAT. INCIDENTLY, YOU KNOW WHAT THE NUMBER WAS UNDER BIDEN? BY THE WAY, I'M ADJUSTING THESE NUMBERS FOR INFLATION. YOU KNOW WHAT THE NUMBER WAS UNDER BIDEN? NEGATIVE 20,000. PEOPLE ACTUALLY LOST MONEY IN REAL TERMS IN THE STOCK MARKET UNDER BIDEN. THEY ARE UP SUBSTANTIALLY. I'M SO GLAD WE ARE TALKING ABOUT THIS, STUART. THIS IS THE MESSAGE THAT IS NOT GETTING OUT WITH TWO WEEKS TO GO BEFORE THE ELECTION. THAT IS THE NUMBER ONE STATE SPONSOR OF TERROR. THIS IS A NUMBER ONE STATE SPONSOR OF TERROR. THIS IS A NUMBER ONE STATE [00:02:31] Speaker 1: SPONSOR OF TERROR. LISTEN, 90% OF THE STORIES THAT ARE IN THE MEDIA ON THE ECONOMY ARE NEGATIVE BECAUSE IT BENEFITS THE DEMOCRATS. THAT'S VERY TRUE. PRESIDENT TRUMP WAS ASKED [00:02:39] Speaker 3: ABOUT HIS MESSAGE TO VOTERS WHO ARE WORRIED ABOUT GAS PRICES. HERE'S THE RESPONSE. ONE WAY OR THE OTHER, IT'S GOING TO END QUICKLY. WHEN THAT ENDS, GASOLINE IS GOING TO COME DOWN. THAT IS A NUMBER ONE STATE SPONSOR OF TERROR. IRAN IS THE NUMBER ONE STATE SPONSOR OF TERROR. THEY ARE VERY TOUGH AND VERY EVIL. THEY HAVE KILLED MANY AMERICANS. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS SAY ONE THING VERY SIMPLY. IRAN CANNOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON BECAUSE THEY WOULD ABSOLUTELY USE IT AND PROBABLY IMMEDIATELY. PEOPLE UNDERSTAND IT'S NOT A BIG PRICE TO PAY. [00:03:08] Speaker 1: RIGHT. STEVE, SORT THIS OUT. IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IS THE DIESEL AND SANCTIONS DEAL WITH PUTIN? WILL IT BE EFFECTIVE? WILL IT ACTUALLY BRING OUR [00:03:18] Speaker ?: ENERGY PRICES DOWN? [00:03:19] Speaker 2: I'M NOT A TOTAL EXPERT ON THIS. BUT WHAT I'M TOLD IS IT COULD BRING THE DIESEL PRICES DOWN A LITTLE BIT. AND LOOK, AT THIS POINT, ANY RELIEF IS BLESSED RELIEF TO MOTORISTS. AS I SAID, I PAID $110 TO FILL UP MY TANK THE OTHER DAY. SO IT WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE AT THE MARGIN. PEOPLE, I'M NOT A FOREIGN POLICY EXPERT, SO I CAN'T SPEAK OF THE IMPLICATIONS OF THAT DEAL. BUT THE MOST IMPORTANT POINT IS LET'S JUST KEEP DRILLING AS MUCH OIL AND GAS AS WE CAN HERE AT HOME. I'VE SAID THIS BEFORE ON YOUR SHOW, BUT I WANT TO REPEAT IT. WE ARE PRODUCING MORE OIL AND GAS IN AMERICA TODAY THAN ANY OTHER TIME BEFORE. AND WE ARE THE NUMBER ONE PRODUCER OF OIL AND GAS IN THE WORLD. WE'RE ACTUALLY PRODUCING MORE THAN WE'RE CONSUMING. SO FROM AN ENERGY PERSPECTIVE, WE'RE IN A LOT BETTER SHAPE THAN WE WERE FIVE OR TEN YEARS AGO. LET'S NOT FORGET BIDEN TRIED TO SHUT DOWN OUR OIL AND GAS CAPACITY BY STOPPING PIPELINES, BY STOPPING THE LNG TERMINALS, BY STOPPING ALL THE ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE THAT WE NEED. WE NEED TO EXPAND IT SO WE'RE NEVER DEPENDENT ON MIDDLE EAST OIL AGAIN. FAIR ENOUGH. [00:04:23] Speaker 1: BUT PEOPLE STILL LOOK AT $4 GAS, $6 DIESEL, 7% MORTGAGES. THEY DO. THAT'S REALITY, ISN'T IT? ECONOMIC THEORY IS NOT JUDGED AROUND THE KITCHEN TABLE. IT'S $4 GAS, $6 DIESEL, IT'S 7% MORTGAGES. YOU'RE RIGHT. IT IS FRUSTRATING. BUT THAT IS THE REALITY WITH 15 DAYS TO THE GO. RIGHT. GAS PRICES ARE ALWAYS THE ONE KIND OF MEASURE THAT EVERYBODY [00:04:43] Speaker 2: TENDS TO USE TO GAUGE HOW THE ECONOMY IS DOING. EVERY TIME YOU GO DOWN THE BLOCK AND GO INTO YOUR TOWN, WHAT'S THE FIRST THING YOU SEE? THE BIG SIGN THAT TELLS YOU HOW MUCH GAS COSTS. $110 TO FILL UP YOUR AUDI WITH [00:04:58] Speaker 1: DIESEL. WHAT A GUY. SHOOK YOUR HEAD, STEVE. COME AND SEE US NEXT WEEK. YOU'LL FEEL BETTER. STEVE MOORE, EVERYONE. STEVE MOORE, EVERYONE. [00:05:09] Speaker ?: STEVE.