On the same day that a CNBC poll found that 70 percent of Americans “admit to being stressed about their personal finances these days,” Treasury secretary Janet Yellen told the network that “the United States is doing very well.”
Yellen on Tuesday said the U.S. economy is “very resilient” and “doing very well.” While she admitted that inflation is too high, she sees “no signs that merit serious concern,” CNBC reported.
The Treasury secretary has a history of being wrong about financial matters. She predicted in December that the United States would have “much lower inflation” in 2023. In 2021, she “made virtually the same prediction,” saying that the inflation rate would decrease in 2022. By June 2022, inflation had “surged to a 40-year high of 9.1 percent,” the Washington Free Beacon reported.
Most Americans disagree with Yellen’s Pollyannaism. The CNBC poll, also released Tuesday, found that an overwhelming majority of Americans blamed inflation under Yellen’s boss, President Joe Biden, for their financial woes:
The cost of the basic household expenses—rent, groceries, and utilities—are all higher than a year ago, weakening consumers’ purchasing power.
Nearly 60 percent of respondents cited inflation as the main contributor to their financial stress, followed by economy-wide instability (43 percent), rising interest rates (36 percent), and a lack of savings (35 percent), according to the survey of 4,336 adults, which was conducted at the end of March.
Recent bank failures have only added to economic uncertainty, with only 13 percent of adults saying “they are very confident in America’s banking system.” Those worries are affecting every tax bracket, with “even those making $100,000 or more” feeling financial pain.
