The director of the White House National Economic Council said Sunday that the way the media covers economic news draws disproportionate attention to the worst problems at any given moment.
Speaking on ABC’s “This Week,” Kevin Hassett said, “One of the things I’ve noticed here at the White House is, whatever piece of consumer price that is looking like it’s a little bit disappointing, it’s the only thing we talk about.”
Hassett was addressing a question on gas prices — which have spiked since the United States and Israel launched a war against Iran in late February — and their impact on inflation. He said everyone needed to look at the whole picture, not just energy prices or whatever area of the economy happens to be experiencing trouble at the moment.
“What you need to do is smooth through the ups and downs, look at what’s happening to real wages,” he said.
“If you look at it, because there are more people working and because the stock market’s moving, profits are high, and that’s feeding through into wage and salaries,” Hassett said.
Host Jonathan Karl challenged Hassett on his optimism, asking: “People seem anxious and uneasy about the economy, don’t they?”
Hassett said that if Americans just looked at their own situations, they’d realize they are doing pretty well.
“Look, in the end, people look at their wallets,” he told Karl. “They decide how to vote. And if they look at their wallets and look at how much money they have after, you know, the increase in prices, they’re going to find that they have a lot more money.”