Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski did their best to keep straight faces as “Morning Joe” economic analyst Steve Rattner explained how the current U.S. economy is “exceptional” and inflation is “pretty good” – but it turns out that the MSNBC hosts do their own grocery shopping.
“Inflation has come down faster and further than any of us would have guessed,” said Rattner, who also cited strong jobs reports and economic growth on Wednesday’s show. “I don’t want to declare a victory completely but that’s the trajectory we’re on at the moment – that things are looking pretty good … it’s really an exceptional economy on many levels that [President Biden] gets no credit for.”
Scarborough and Brzezinski hung in valiantly, but the pained looks on their faces would be followed up later with comments that revealed at least some level of cognitive dissonance.
“But if you compare what people were paying in a grocery store for bread and milk in 2019 with what they’re paying today, yeah, maybe it’s only 3% higher than it was last year, but it’s 19-to-20 percent higher than in 2019,” Scarborough said.
Rattner conceded that some permanent inflation had been “processed” through the system, but suggested the polling around “Bidenomics” – with an approval rate running below 30 percent – wasn’t matching up with economic realities: “It’s a disconnect I can’t remember seeing in many years of watching all this stuff,” he said.
“Where prices don’t continue to go down are at the supermarket,” Scarborough said. “People feel that in a real way. … This is one sector that continues to hammer Americans in their pocketbook. What drives inflation at the grocery store?”
Rattner answered that food is an “idiosyncratic category” largely affected by weather; he also cited “a lot of factors” including avian flu outbreaks before pivoting to spotlight the precious few items – like used cars and electronics – that have seen price decreases. And just as it seemed like Scarborough was coming around, suggesting “certain news networks” were to blame for the amount of economic pessimism, Brzezinski chimed in.
“The housing market is tough,” she said.
“The Wall Street Journal had a great piece a couple days ago about how this is not the time to buy a house,” Scarborough said.
“You can’t rent either,” Brzezinski continued.
Scarborough, still not satisfied with Rattner’s tapdance on food prices, came back to the subject: “But again, groceries – what drives prices up in grocery stores?”
Rattner responded by saying that food price inflation “has moderated a lot.”
“Yeah, well. I haven’t seen it,” Scarborough replied grimly.
At one point Rattner began to laugh, saying: “I was actually laughing thinking about you in a grocery store, but that’s a different topic for a different day.”
“It’s me,” Brzezinski said, then pointing to her husband. “Actually, he comes with me.”
Watch the entire exchange in the clip above.
