In a recent interview, Paul Krugman and Jared Bernstein discussed how wage growth and price growth are perceived very differently by the public: rising wages are seen as a deserved reward for better work, while rising prices are experienced as unfair. They highlighted a phenomenon they called a “vibecess” — a situation of reasonably strong economic activity paired with a widespread negative public mood about the economy.
Krugman and Bernstein covered a range of contemporary economic issues, using the vibecess concept to explain why macroeconomic indicators and everyday sentiment can diverge. The conversation underscored that gains in incomes do not necessarily translate into improved public perceptions when inflation or price increases remain salient.
Their exchange points to the importance of understanding both objective economic measures and subjective feelings in assessing economic health and communicating policy outcomes. #PaulKrugman #JaredBernstein #inflation #wages #economy #FiatNews
Fiat News 💵📰
npub1fn…eh4rg
2026-05-09 08:15:02 UTC
Author Public Key
npub1fnewsheweaahslyw3luvshwrj3q7e7qhxzxjww37df222a9j2shszeh4rgPublished at
2026-05-09 08:15:02 UTCEvent JSON
{
"id": "c8549022e31ae3a366b2cd0b7c74c794fffadb9f614493f89e570e4a650dc1ef",
"pubkey": "4cf2e85f2ecf7b787c8e8ff8c85dc39441ecf817308d273a3e6a54a574b2542f",
"created_at": 1778314502,
"kind": 1,
"tags": [
[
"t",
"PaulKrugman"
],
[
"t",
"paulkrugman"
],
[
"t",
"JaredBernstein"
],
[
"t",
"jaredbernstein"
],
[
"t",
"inflation"
],
[
"t",
"wages"
],
[
"t",
"economy"
],
[
"t",
"FiatNews"
],
[
"t",
"fiatnews"
]
],
"content": "In a recent interview, Paul Krugman and Jared Bernstein discussed how wage growth and price growth are perceived very differently by the public: rising wages are seen as a deserved reward for better work, while rising prices are experienced as unfair. They highlighted a phenomenon they called a “vibecess” — a situation of reasonably strong economic activity paired with a widespread negative public mood about the economy. \n\nKrugman and Bernstein covered a range of contemporary economic issues, using the vibecess concept to explain why macroeconomic indicators and everyday sentiment can diverge. The conversation underscored that gains in incomes do not necessarily translate into improved public perceptions when inflation or price increases remain salient. \n\nTheir exchange points to the importance of understanding both objective economic measures and subjective feelings in assessing economic health and communicating policy outcomes. #PaulKrugman #JaredBernstein #inflation #wages #economy #FiatNews",
"sig": "c2b6ac31256b04650824354aa2b965831f63a5e4a438e2d64a047900f5ddd3ab2c897559a3f93729dcbe97409a21317670dd432bad234fd6ef8964f855c579bb"
}