Victor Davis Hanson says the latest economic data points to a much stronger picture than the political debate suggests, arguing that job growth, income gains, lower poverty, and stronger gross domestic product figures indicate an economy moving into a broader expansion.
During an exchange with Glenn Beck, Hanson opened by pointing to the latest employment numbers.
“165,000 new jobs that were just announced.”
Beck responded briefly:
“I know, I know.”
Hanson then compared that figure with earlier expectations and moved through several other economic indicators.
“And they were saying 45. A month ago, the poverty rate is at an all-time low at 10.5. The per capita family income is 87,000, a new record. The GDP was just revised at 3.4, and the Atlanta Fed said it’ll be five by the end of the year.”
Hanson argued that the strength of those figures has been overshadowed by political conflict.
“It’s actually nobody’s talking. We’re just fighting, and we are in the midst of a boom that is emerging.”
He then compared the current economic environment with conditions around the 2022 election cycle, when Republicans failed to produce the red wave many had expected.
“And I look back at 2020 when the red wave dissipated, and why did the blue wave not? So I compared the data.”
Hanson said the stock market and household income are both substantially higher than they were four years earlier.
“The stock market is 20, at least until yesterday, was 20,000 points higher now than when Biden stopped the red wave, and income is $14,000 higher than it was just four years ago.”
He then addressed the argument that inflation and gas prices remain the central explanation for voter dissatisfaction.
“So then people say it’s inflation, it’s gas. Well, no, it isn’t because that was a 9.1 record inflation year in 2022, and gas on election day was somewhere between $3.95 and 405. It’s 406 today.”
Hanson argued that the comparison raises questions because several economic indicators were worse at the time, yet the political outcome was different.
“So what I’m getting at, the economy was a wreck. The GDP was lower. The inflation was three times higher. The gas was about the same. People were furious about Africa. So what? What? What was the difference?”
He said one factor was the public expectation that President Donald Trump would quickly reduce inflation after taking office.
“And I think the only thing I could come up with is Donald Trump came in with a 21% inflation rate, and people said he’ll lower it.”
Hanson argued that lowering the overall price level is much harder than reducing the rate at which prices increase.
“But you can’t do that unless you have a recession or deflationary depression, so he lowered the rate of inflation to 2.4 in the first year.”
He said the current pace of inflation is still well below the average he attributed to the Biden years.
“Even this year, it’s going to be less than half of the. It’ll be about half or a little bit more than the 5% that Biden averaged every year.”
Hanson said the larger failure was one of communication. In his view, the administration did not clearly explain that while many prices would remain elevated, slower inflation combined with rising incomes could improve household purchasing power.
“But they never. I think there weren’t people that went out to the people and said prices are high, and we can’t lower those, but we can lower the rate of inflation, and we can increase the per capita family income, so you can absorb that.”
Beck agreed that the political message had not been communicated effectively.
“I think part of the problem with Donald Trump was they had nobody telling the story; they had no one telling the story, and they needed to do that.”
.@VDHanson just laid out an economic reality that completely blew my mind, and it exposes the biggest messaging failure leading up to the midterms.
While we were all fighting over the races, an economic boom was emerging right under our noses:
“165,000 new jobs were just announced and they were saying 45 a month ago. The poverty rate was at an all-time low at 10.5. The per capita family income is $87,000, a new record. The GDP was just revised at 3.4, and the Atlanta Fed said it’ll be 5 by the end of the year.
Nobody’s talking; we’re just fighting, and we are in the midst of a boom that is emerging. And I look back at 2022 when the red wave dissipated, and why did the blue wave not? So I compared the data.
The stock market, at least until yesterday, was 20,000 points higher now than when Biden stopped the red wave. And income is $14,000 higher than it was just four years ago.
So then people say, ‘It’s inflation. It’s gas.’ Well, no, it isn’t, because that was a 9.1 record inflation year in 2022. And gas on election day was somewhere between $3.95 and $4.05… It’s $4.06 today.
So what I’m getting at, the economy was a wreck. The GDP was lower, the inflation was three times higher, the gas was about the same, people were furious… what was the difference?”
— Glenn Beck (@glennbeck) November 6, 2026 [1]