Americans Are Miserable, and It's Swaying the Election

[marmar]

(Bloomberg) Every week, hosts Joe Weisenthal and Tracy Alloway take you on a not-so-random walk through hot topics in markets, finance, and economics.

On this week's episode we look at the intersection of markets, economics, and the U.S. presidential election to examine how the national mood is swaying the vote. The bad news: There are all kinds of signs that Americans are miserable—especially Republicans. Peter Atwater of Financial Insyghts explains why and how this is contributing to the rise of Donald Trump, and to a lesser extent to Bernie Sanders. There's also a warning here for anyone invested in the stock market.

Also, did you know that there's an actual "Misery Index"? Economists have developed a single number that attempts to capture how unhappy a country is, and it has a great track record of predicting U.S. presidential elections. Carl Riccadonna, chief U.S. economist of Bloomberg Intelligence, joins us to explain the measure and tell us what it means for the ultimate outcome in November.

Take a listen and understand why this year's political season seems so wild: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-04-25/odd-lots-podcast-the-misery-index

[onehandle]

1. The only election right now is the primary, and Trump and Hillary are far and away on top.

So, cool story, 'hot topics' reporters.

[marmar]

2. "and Trump and Hillary are far and away on top"

Explains the misery.

[Skittles]

12. no, decades of trickle-down bullshit explain the MISERY

[marmar]

15. Which neither trump nor clinton would change.

[Skittles]

17. be careful what you wish for

[marmar]

18. I guess I dont understand......

..... What am i wishing for?

[Quantess]

20. You see, when Clinton doesn't reverse the "trickle down" theory

it will be because of your self-fulfilling prophecy.

That's what I guess Skittles is saying, anyway. (I'm about to get an ass-kicking)

[marmar]

21. But she wont. We all know that.

[Quantess]

22. She's status quo.

And the bankers love her.

[Quantess]

23. I feel let down about not getting a proper ass-kicking

Oh well, tomorrow is another day.

[Bayard]

3. I've been giving this issue some thought (always dangerous!)

I think one of the reasons young people are supporting Bernie in big numbers is that they are looking at huge student loans that don't get them better jobs anymore, never being able to afford a mortgage, not being able to afford kids, etc etc. I was watching Bill Maher say on his last show that the attraction is only because these people, "want free stuff". Shame on him! I think the younger generation was giving up on just getting a fair shot, and Bernie is giving them hope for that.

[LannyDeVaney]

16. I would counter that Clinton supporters think she offers the best hope for the changes you describe

[HughBeaumont]

4. Ah yes, and in the area of economic woes, DONALD TRUMP is their panacea.

This is like trusting a Roman Catholic priest to run a daycare.

COME on.

Trump is the uneducated white hatemonger's candidate. He can no more cure Capitalism's ills than Capitalism itself could.

[nichomachus]

8. Be very careful

You have characterized Trump supporters in a way that just isn't true. Some of them are as you describe, but then you'll find people like that among the Democrats. Many of Trump supporters are not hate filled and/or uneducated.

When you don't know your opponent, you will probably lose. Your mischaracterization of who is supporting Trump and why shows a great deal of ignorance and laziness.

[HughBeaumont]

9. Ah yes, I'm sure these bastions of intellect will wax me up and down in logic and history.

PLEASE.

Many people CNN interviewed were not turned off by Trump's provocative remarks — but inclined to agree with his statements and his unvarnished approach to self-expression. There is no getting around the impression that for some, racial attitudes are fueling their support.

snip

Sweet was there with her husband, Terry Sweet, who is more than 30 years her senior. They said Norma came to the country 13 years ago from the Philippines and that she has been a citizen for 8 years. Speaking with a CNN reporter, Terry proudly pointed to his wife as an example of immigration done "correctly."

"It's not fair to her to let the illegals stay here. She does everything right. She works, she pays taxes, she votes," he said.

The couple said they both planned to vote for Trump.

snip

"The people that are coming in here from China, Indonesia and all of them countries, they're getting pregnant and coming here and having babies," Weber said, telling an Asian reporter that he meant no offense. "They get everything and the people that were born here can't get everything."

snip

For many Trump fans, the candidate's once prominent role in the so-called Obama "birther" movement has left a lasting impression.

The skeptics, dispersed throughout Trump rallies, have serious misgivings about the President's U.S. citizenship and Christian faith more than four years after Obama publicly released his birth certificate.

"Islam is traced patrilineally. I am a Muslim if my father is Muslim. In that sense, it is undeniable that Barack Obama was born a Muslim," Michael Rooney said at a Trump event in Worcester, Massachusetts, in November. (Obama is a Christian. He has said his father was born a Muslim and later became an atheist.)

Stop me when I hit an intelligent reason to vote for a four-time bankruptcy-filing hypercapitalist birther.

Taking their cue from Trump, these individuals are calling themselves the "silent majority." Some say they suffer from "reverse discrimination."

Rhett Benhoff, a middle-aged white man at a December Trump campaign event in Raleigh, North Carolina, said discrimination against whites is "absolutely" real.

"I mean, it seems like we really go overboard to make sure all these other nationalities nowadays and colors have their fair shake of it, but no one's looking out for the white guy anymore," he said.

Among Trump supporters, suspicion and anger toward the Black Lives Matter movement run deep. These people say the group's name and slogan seem to convey that black lives are more important than white lives.

"I think it's bulls---," said Ziegler, the 61-year-old diehard Trump fan who attended his Columbus, Ohio, rally. "All lives matter. You know this is bulls---- about black lives matter -- doesn't all lives matter?"

. . . . yeah . . . . real Algonquin Round Table there . . . . PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT . . . .

"I like him because he's a businessman. He does what he says he's going to do. I've seen him lose a ton of money and bounce back," said Trump supporter Linda Wilkerson at a Raleigh campaign event. "We're in terrible financial debt. I hope he can bail us out."

snip

This outburst would turn out to be a little different from other protests at Trump rallies because a CNN reporter was filming the crowd's violent reaction to the protester. The grainy cell phone footage showed angry Trump fans pushing, kicking and jeering at the man, who at one point was lying on the ground.

The 31-year-old Black Lives Matter activist, Mercutio Southall, told CNN afterwards that the people around him had called him "monkey" and the N-word.

"I got punched in the face, I got punched in the neck. I got kicked in the chest. Kicked in the stomach. Somebody stepped on my hand," he said.

"Chastise them at your peril. Understand that they, too, have their reasons. You may not always agree, but characterizing them as ignorant reveals your ignorance."

Sorry, but that's a giant whopping What the FUCK with me. These people think they're voting for United States Dictator. In fact, Trump thinks he's RUNNING for United States Dictator. Of course, I'm being facetious on that, given that he'll have all three branches under his presidency and will accomplish some serious damage in eight years. Example: Appointing four Draconian Supreme Court judges that will send women's, civil, labor and human rights straight back to the Dark Ages. That reason alone is why I'll never give shit ONE about their choice.

[Skittles]

13. it kills me

rich white men are causing the main problems in America, and there are actually people who think this ultra-rich white man will fix things - Trump is part of the PROBLEM, not the SOLUTION

[HughBeaumont]

14. It's like what I told people about Romney. And his brand of Capitalism, really . . .

Don't expect a problem to solve the problems it created.

[countingbluecars]

5. And even if they are not miserable

they are told they are daily by the media.

[LongTomH]

6. It goes beyond 'unhappiness', or even misery!

It isn't just Donald Trump and his crazy-ass followers. Author Pythia Peay has been telling people that America is undergoing a "national nervous breakdown," and that's what's making this election season so crazy!

[Marr]

7. Democrats are as unhappy as Republicans. Our primaries are just much more rigged

against insurgent candidates.

[cwydro]

19. Why are Dems as unhappy as republicans?

We've had eight years of a Dem president.

What happened to hope and change?

[alarimer]

10. Democrats ignore this at their peril.

It's been coming for a long time and dates back, first to Reaganomics and then Bill Clinton's triangulation bullshit. The Democratic Party stopped caring about this when they sold their souls to Wall Street.

[Ron Obvious]

11. When nearly half the country can't come up with a few hundred dollars for an emergency...

... and the news is always telling them that the economy is booming and everything is just lovely, I'm not surprised by the misery index.