Pub. 19 2022 Issue 1

14 THE ECONOMY OF By Mark Anderson, NMBA Legal and Legislative Assistant A common occurrence in the American news cycle is when a politician touts the overwhelming strength of the economy, citing a low unemployment rate or some other statistic, only to be countered by polling that finds a vast majority of citizens feel uncertainty or outright hopelessness about their own economic situations. Some of that is due to intentional misrepresentation on the part of politicians. Still, there is a genuine disconnect in powerful factions of society about how uncertain the economy has become for most Americans. When viewing every economic trend in America, the first word that comes to mind is risk. Unless you are exceptionally fortunate, it feels like economic risk is around every corner, built into every sector of the economy, sparing only a select few. As a result, it has left millions of Americans feeling quite vulnerable economically, which is only exacerbated by elected officials saying how incredible the economy really is if you just squint hard enough. Currently, there are competing economic narratives being floated by our government and media, which seemingly contradict each other. First, there is the narrative that the economy is strong, jobs are roaring back, and wages are improving. Then, there is the narrative that inflation is an overwhelming issue for millions of low and middle-income Americans, felt in their purchases of food, household items, and gasoline. These two narratives can’t fully exist without one somewhat contradicting the other. A strong economy, one without large swaths of its population living paycheck to paycheck, should be able to endure inflation. However, It is so crucial to remember that when a country, state, or municipality lifts up its most vulnerable people, the overall quality of life increases for everyone. New Mexicans should be ecstatic that we have leadership in government genuinely trying to make this a better, safer, more vibrant place to live. inflation does become an enormous problem when you have a fundamentally weak economy, one that has little regard for low-wage workers and saddles its citizens with crushing amounts of debt. So, the fact that inflation is affecting Americans so directly and dramatically shows that, in fact, the economy is weak in many important areas. Inflation, which is simply a reduction in the purchasing power of money, is most acutely affected by the poorest individuals and households. After decades of dismantling RISK

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