Inflation expectations are up and media sentiment is down
News sentiment tends to lag inflation expectations. Watch these charts
If it’s Friday, it’s time for Chart of the Week here at Strength In Numbers. Let’s take a look at inflation and news coverage.
Economist Joseph Palitano had a great piece about the impacts of tariffs on mass economic sentiment and the business environment at his Substack Apricitas Economics on Tuesday. He included this chart of consumers’ expectations for inflation over the next one and five to 10 years:
Note two things from this chart:
Consumer expectations for rising prices over the next 5-10 years are at their highest level in 30-35 years, during the recession in the early 90s
Inflation expectations over the next year, which tend to respond more quickly to changes in the consumer price index, are nearly as high as they were during COVID-19 and the inflation in 2022-2023 under Joe Biden’s presidency
But something didn’t click for me. While the media has covered falling stock prices and rising uncertainty so far this year, the tone of coverage does not seem nearly as negative as during 20…
