In a striking rebuttal, a prominent economist has publicly dismantled former President Donald Trump's recent assertion that grocery prices have decreased under his watch. The controversy erupted following a Fox News interview where Trump made bold claims about the state of the U.S. economy.
Trump's "Phenomenal" Economy Claim Meets Reality
During an interview with Laura Ingraham that aired this week, Donald Trump declared that the United States is "doing phenomenally well" under his leadership. He described the current period as the "greatest economy we’ve ever had," conceding that only beef and coffee prices remained high. This portrayal, however, was immediately challenged by economic experts.
An Economist's Fact-Based Rebuttal
University of Michigan economics professor Justin Wolfers did not mince words when responding to the claims. Appearing on CNN with Kaitlan Collins on Tuesday, Wolfers stated, "Every word the president just said is a lie." He expressed deep concern, adding, "Worse than that, it’s such a lie that I worry that there’s literally a break with reality inside the man’s mind."
Wolfers, describing himself as a "statistics nerd," directed the public to the official data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). He explained that the BLS has personnel in supermarkets across the nation, and their data clearly shows that "almost every category of goods or services sees the prices rising."
Data and Daily Experience Confirm Inflation
While acknowledging that there can be a "reasonable argument" about whether the rate of inflation is too high or too low, Wolfers was unequivocal on one point: inflation is undeniably happening. He emphasized that the evidence is not confined to government spreadsheets.
"It’s not just the nerds at the BLS who see it," the economist pointed out. "When companies are giving their earnings reports, they’re telling us they’re raising their prices. Every single viewer on the other side of this television set knows exactly what’s happening, which is prices are rising."
Wolfers concluded by expressing bewilderment at the former president's strategy, stating, "I don’t understand the logic of looking us in the eye and telling us an outright falsehood." In a separate appearance on MSNBC, he had earlier labeled Trump's claim that "prices are down" as "quite literally false," asserting it does not reflect the data or the experiences of ordinary people.
