When beliefs trump facts, Thanksgiving becomes less fun

What a sudden change in consumer sentiment says about us.

My latest for the Washington Post. Preview and gift link below!

Something strange happened the day after Donald Trump won the election: Democrats and Republicans traded places on their views of the economy.

For years, Democrats were more optimistic and Republicans less so. On Nov. 8, Sofia Baig, an economist with Morning Consult, spotted something remarkable in the company’s Index of Consumer Sentiment. In the span of just a day, the trend flipped.

With few exceptions, Republican and Democratic consumer sentiments have historically differed, though they’re working with the same fundamental data (inflation, job data, imports and exports, etc.). The trend persisted even during an event as uncertain and unprecedented as the coronavirus stock crash in March 2020.

But the two parties’ sentiments change when power changes hands. The same switch that occurred this year followed the 2016 election.

Read the rest of the piece here.